


A Lily by Any Other Name

by savya398



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Loki is Lily Potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-03
Updated: 2014-06-25
Packaged: 2018-01-21 19:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1561391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savya398/pseuds/savya398
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Odin punishes Loki by casting him out of Asgard into the body of a mortal, where he grows up and lives another life. The consequences of which come back to haunt Harry Potter as he starts going through the trials of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. As if the discovery of other worlds and aliens weren't enough, Harry now has to face some unfortunate truths about his origins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Loki Learns a Lesson

**Author's Note:**

> I've just gotten an AO3 account. But I do have a fanfiction account where I have previously posted this story. I'll be posting the rest of the already written chapters of the story here as well as the other stories that are on my fanfiction account.

Odin, the All-Father, King of Asgard had had enough. His son's behavior was out of control. He was using his magic in ways that were simply unacceptable for a Prince of Asgard. Odin had put up with a lot of his pranks over the years but this was going too far. It was time for Loki to learn his lesson. Magic was not something one should not take advantage of.

Loki had taken to using his magic to take on a female form. He would then use that female form to seduce and beguile young Aesir men. Once he had them thoroughly enamored he would revert to his true form and cause the unfortunate young man all sorts of undue humiliation because of the cruel trick. Odin had several angry parents, lords and ladies of his court, storm his throne room to complain about the harmful trick that Loki had been playing. He'd spoken to Loki about using his magic for only necessary purposes but his youngest son did so often become bored and resort to mischief to alleviate that boredom.

Odin had given him several warnings on this matter yet Loki had not heeded them. Now it was time for Odin to take action. He called his youngest son to him to confront him on the matter. Harsh words were spoken between the pair and in the end Odin thought some time spent as a mortal would help put things in perspective for his son. So Odin cast Loki into the body of a stillborn baby girl so that he may live the life of a mortal _female_. It seemed a fitting punishment to Odin, after all it would perhaps teach his son that he shouldn't use the female form for his cruel tricks.

The young mortal couple rejoiced to discover that their daughter had survived. They never really questioned her bright green eyes, a color neither of them possessed, or her magical abilities. They simply loved her, and raised her to the best of their abilities.

**///**

Lily Evans grew up feeling different from others. Some vital, secret part of her just knew that she wasn't the same as other children or even her own family. She felt alone and distant from the rest of the world, and as hard as she tried she could never quite shake the feeling. Something felt like it was missing but she couldn't quite figure it out. When she met the young Severus Snape and he told her all about magic she had believed joining the magical world would change things. It would give her a place that she would finally belong.

For years she avidly waited to start Hogwarts. When she did finally go it had been wonderful and exciting. And for a while the newness of it made her forget that strange feeling of emptiness. Soon that feeling crept back in. Despite the magic that surrounded her she still felt vaguely out of place and disconnected from her own body. She didn't feel real. This life didn't feel real to her. But she did as she had done all her life; she shoved the feeling down into the darkest depths of her mind and tried to move on with her life. She did her best to be happy, and live a productive life as a muggleborn witch in a time of strife.

She worked hard in school. She made friends, loved her family despite the struggles with her older sister, and just had as much fun as she could. She started dating James Potter, fell in love with him, and eventually married him. It was the first time she had ever been in love, and she cherished his utter devotion to her and her alone. When Voldemort rose to power she joined the Order to help protect those that she had grown to care about. She loved her life, loved her friends, and the magical world she had become a part of, and she would do anything to stop the one who threatened those she cared about. But then she discovered she was pregnant, and her world tilted on its access. It was the catalyst that changed her entire life.

The birth of her son was the single greatest thing that had ever happened to her. The first time she held her son was the first time she could ever remember feeling truly at peace. The missing piece inside of her was suddenly filled. She cherished the child and knew in her heart that she would do anything for him. The discovery that Voldemort would be coming after her child filled her with an unimaginable terror. She and James did everything they could think of to try and protect their son.

But in the end it didn't matter. They were betrayed by someone they trusted, and Voldemort attacked. James lost his life for his wife and son, and Lily Potter nee Evans sacrificed her life for her beloved child. However, that was not the true end of Lily. It destroyed her body but the immortal soul trapped within mortal flesh was released the moment the Killing Curse had hit her. She was returned to her home and her true form.

Loki, Prince of Asgard was dazed and devastated when he woke up in his father's throne room. The return of his millennia of memories momentarily overpowering his memories as Lily Evans. But the urgent need to save his son quickly jumped to the forefront of his mind. Was he too late? Was his son already dead? Seeing how distressed his son was Odin quickly took action. He hadn't meant for his son to suffer so much in his new life and he certainly hadn't meant for him to have a child. He couldn't allow his son to suffer from such pain especially when the child didn't survive. Odin could not sense the child and wanted to save Loki the pain of losing his son. He did the only thing that he could think of. He locked away his son's memories of his time as Lily Evans.

When Loki next awoke his last memories were of Odin threatening to punish him. Odin informed him that his punishment was already over. Loki couldn't help but feel as if there was more to the story. He felt like something truly important was missing but he couldn't quite put his finger on what had actually happened. As the years passed he sometimes had strange dreams. Little did he know these dreams were memories and it would be years before he recovered them in their entirety. And when he did the world would pay for their treatment of his beloved son.


	2. Cold and Miserable

Harry Potter was angry. No, that word didn’t really seem to describe the depth of emotion that Harry was experiencing at the moment. He was furious and upset, and feeling utterly betrayed. Why couldn’t he ever seem to just catch a break? Why did his life have to be one big mistake after another? Couldn’t his life ever just be normal?

He thought things had finally been turning around for him. His bad luck had seemed to be at an end. He should have known better. He’d had a pretty good summer. The Dursleys had barely bothered him thanks to the threat of his newly acquired godfather. Then of course there was that whole incident in America where aliens led by a Norse God attacked New York City. Suddenly, Harry wasn’t the focus of the Dursley’s wrath anymore. Vernon and Petunia were terrified of alien invasions, and were busy cursing out the Avengers freaks. Harry found the whole incident fascinating and wanted to learn more about the whole event. The wizarding world was taking it surprisingly well. Apparently the Unspeakables had always been aware of other worlds for a while now, and the wizard population in general had always known about Asgard and the Norse Gods. They had allied with one another back during the wars between the Frost Giants and Asgardians when some of the battles had taken place on Earth.

Harry had finally hit a growth spurt over the summer as well. Harry had been so pleased to come back to Hogwarts and discover that he was one of the tallest boys in his year now. Unfortunately, his hair was just as wild as it always was. He was fairly certain that nothing short of using a ridiculous amount of hair gel like Malfoy would tame his locks. He was getting a more mature look. He lost what little baby fat he had possessed, and he started taking on more of his mother’s facial characteristics. He still looked quite a bit like his dad but now he could see more of his mother in his features as well, something Harry really appreciated.

The school year had even started out pretty well, if he ignored the little Death Eater attack at the Quidditch World Cup. At least he’d gotten to leave the Dursleys earlier than expected, and gotten to see a professional Quidditch match for the first time in his life. He’d been upset about no Quidditch this year but he’d been looking forward to meeting the other schools and getting the chance to watch the tournament. The last thing he had wanted was to be apart of the bloody thing. He thought this would finally be the year he’d get to spend more time on his studies like he had always wanted. He loved magic, he wanted to learn as much as he could about it. Ever since he’d first found out that he was a wizard he’d soaked up as much knowledge as he could on the subject. Even if he didn’t exactly like studying, not that it mattered since things were always getting in the way of his study time. He still managed to be one of the top students in his year. Magic just came naturally to Harry.

But it wasn’t meant to be, and it was all that stupid Goblet of Fire’s fault. He didn’t know who put his name in the stupid thing but he was going to find out, and then they were going to pay. All of Hogwarts hated him now because they thought he was some attention seeking, arrogant sod. He didn’t want fame or glory. He just wanted to have a normal, peaceful life for once. It seemed like that was asking too much for Harry Potter.

Harry was sitting on the bank of the Black Lake, glaring balefully at the dark water. He tossed stones into the water breaking the thin layers of ice that were forming on the sides of the lake. Being away from the halls of Hogwarts was the only chance he had for some peace and quiet. He was still miserable, though. Ever since his name had come out of the goblet he’d become the most hated person in Hogwarts. During the day he was subjected to all the whispering and cruel campaigns about him. Even the Hufflepuffs had joined in. Not to mention the horrible articles that Rita Skeeter had been writing about him making the entire wizarding world hate him. No one seemed to believe that he hadn’t put his name in the goblet. Was he really such an arrogant, fame-seeking ass that people automatically assumed the worst about him? Hadn’t he proven himself after the whole Chamber of Secrets incident? He had saved Ginny’s life, he may not have actually slayed the basilisk but he had stopped a memory version of a teen Voldemort from taking over the school. So why did people still seem so ready to hate him?

“Harry?”

Harry turned to see one of his best friends, Hermione Granger, making her way over to him. Hermione was trying to stay neutral in this feud between Ron and he. Although, it couldn’t really be labeled much of a feud when it was Ron who had spurned his friendship. Ron of all people who had been his friend for three years now. He should have known the real Harry. If he was his true friend then he would have known better to think that Harry would go out of his way to find more danger in his life. Harry couldn’t help but be a little resentful that Hermione wasn’t completely siding with him in this matter. Couldn’t she see Ron was wrong? Shouldn’t she be trying harder to convince Ron that he was wrong so they could all go back to the way they were before?

To be honest, over the years, he had grown closer to Hermione than Ron anyway. Initially he and Ron had hit it off after the train ride and being sorted into the same house. The strange incident with the troll had been the catalyst to their friendship; although, why the rampaging mountain troll had decided to run the other way when Harry and Ron had gotten close was anyone’s guess. At least Hermione had been safe. The three of them had become near inseparable from one another after that.

Overtime Harry had naturally started gravitating towards the intelligent girl. She could be bossy at times, and it did annoy him. For the most part, though, she was very helpful when he wanted to research obscure spells or potions. Harry himself wasn’t all that interested in spending copious amounts of time in the library unless the mood happened to strike him, and he needed to research a topic he had become interested in. There were times that he needed to get away from his research and seek more practical pursuits. He liked playing with magic and exploring new avenues while Hermione was a strictly by the books type of person. That was where Ron had come in to the friendship; they both enjoyed joking around and playing Quidditch. But if this was how Ron was going to react than maybe it was just good to say good riddance. If only it was that easy. Ron had been his first friend and he was finding it hard to get over the betrayal.

“Hullo, Hermione,” he greeted softly, turning back around to throw another stone. He was vaguely impressed by how many times it skipped across the water before finally sinking.

“Harry, what are you doing out here? It’s freezing and you’re not wearing your cloak,” she chided as she moved to sit down next to him. She was wrapped up tightly in her own cloak, and shivering. It was only a few days into November but Scotland winters started early, and they were brutally cold.

“Sorry, mum. I won’t forget again,” he teased. To be honest he hadn’t really even noticed the cold. He’d just been so angry about Malfoy’s new pins and the Weighing of the Wands that he’d had to get away from the school before he did something stupid. Malfoy, Snape, and Rita Skeeter had all come together to make this day even more horrible than the previous ones he’d endured since his name came out of the goblet. He hadn’t thought about things like a coat as he made his escape to the lake.

“I’m sorry about what happened today. Malfoy is a prat. I’ve told Professor McGonagall about the badges. She said she would take care of them. She’ll probably give Malfoy detention.” Hermione always seemed so certain that adults would take care of everything. But Harry knew better. He’d had a lifetime of adults never living up to his expectations to know that he could only depend on himself. 

“If she can prove that it was him,” was all that Harry said out loud.

“I’m sure that she will,” she replied confidently.

“And Ron? How long is it going to take before he realizes I never put my name in the Goblet?” Harry questioned.

“He’s just upset and you know he has a hard time thinking rationally when he’s upset.”

“But he’s my friend, Hermione, he should know me better than that. He should be on my side, not mocking me like the rest of the school. As if I’m not having a hard enough time as it is, I have to fight with my own best friend too.” Harry’s earlier anger was rising to the forefront of his mind.

“He just needs time. He cares about you and it’s just his own anger that’s getting in the way of him seeing the truth. You’ll see, Ron will come around once his temper’s cooled a bit,” Hermione tried to soothe.

“I shouldn’t have to wait, Hermione! I’m the one who was wronged here but no one seems to be able to remember that. Or they just don’t believe me. How hard is it to believe that I didn’t want to be part of the tournament? I don’t want to be famous period.” Harry got up to pace. He felt warm and had the sudden, irrational desire to jump into the ice-cold lake as an attempt to cool down.

“Harry, I’m so sorry. I wish there was something more that I could do. You don’t deserve this. This is all going to blow over before you know it. You’ll see.” She reached out and grabbed his hand. As soon as she made contact she instantly pulled away with a soft yelp. The surprisingly hot sting of her skin against Harry’s caused him to jerk away as well.

“Harry, you’re freezing,” she gasped. “Let’s get you inside and warmed up. Maybe we can get Dobby to bring us some hot chocolate, and we can start looking through some new spells for the First Task. We don’t know what it is yet so we should be prepared for anything.”

“I’ll meet you there in just a bit,” Harry told her absently. She didn’t seem convinced so he shot her a bright grin. She sighed and reluctantly started to make her way back up the path towards the castle.

He stayed behind. There was something that he needed to check. Harry didn’t feel the slightest bit cold but according to Hermione he was freezing. Not to mention that the heat of Hermione’s hand actually stung him. What was going on? Was he really just so cold that he’d gone directly into feeling numb, and any measure of warmth shocked his nerves? No, he didn’t think so. It wasn’t that cold out, and he felt completely normal.

Harry looked down to examine his hand, and was unable to believe what he saw. He took note of the fact that his skin had a distinct pale blue tint to it. He frowned this couldn’t really be possible could it? Not really sure why he was doing it but doing it anyway he walked over to the lake. Before he could think better of it he stuck his hand into the icy water. He knew the water should have felt cold but it felt no different than sticking his hands in the sink under some warm water. He watched in shock as his skin turned a darker blue. The dark slate blue color continued to crawl up his arm.

Harry yanked his hand back out of the lake. The color quickly began to fade as soon he pulled his hand free. Harry wrote it off as being a trick of the light. He had more important things to worry about. He had a school to prove wrong, and a tournament to win. He may not have wanted to be a part of it but he was going to show everyone that he was more than capable of surviving and beating it. Harry was going to show the wizarding world just what he was capable of. He was tired of people always assuming the worst about him. He was determined to stop worrying about what everyone thought of him. Of course that was easier said than done.

Harry started making his way back up to the castle.

 

///

 

Loki, Prince of Asgard, God of Mischief and Magic, Enemy Number One of Earth, the Avengers, and SHIELD watched dispassionately as his once brother swept from the throne room. He had to admit he was pleased to discover that his brother had kept his promise to his supposedly dying self. Perhaps Thor did care about him after all. He would think more on their relationship once he’d dealt with a matter that had been overdue for quite some time now.

He whirled around and made his way to the chamber where he was keeping his sleeping father. Loki had locked him away to assure that he stayed unaware of the proceedings. Loki sat beside the sleeping god, glaring at the man he once revered as his father. He was so tempted to strangle the man where he slept for all the pain and misery he had caused him. A painless death was too good for him. Loki wanted him to suffer, he wanted him to know who was the one to bring about his death, and he wanted him to know why.

It all started when Odin had punished him for his little tricks. Loki had only been seeking vengeance against the ones who had tormented him. It seemed a fitting punishment to him for the men who so mocked him for using magic, for being too thin, too cowardly. He had enjoyed toying with their emotions, and absolutely relished the looks of shock on their faces when they realized who he truly was. He had so enjoyed making them look like fools. It was their own faults for thinking being a magic user made him weak. In the future they would know better than to bother him. They would know to not cross Loki because he would cause them twice the pain and discomfort.

Odin had sent him into the body of a mortal female infant. He’d grown up as Lily Evans. He’d gotten married, had a child, and was murdered. Odin had taken away all of those memories. They had been such happy memories. Loki had loved his life as Lily. It was the first time he could ever remember being truly happy. His childhood on Asgard was constantly filled with being compared to Thor, and with being mocked by his peers. What was even worse was the loss of his memories had kept him from going after his child, and protecting him from Voldemort. For the past thirteen years he had been blindly going through life not even remembering his own son. Was his child still even alive?

He needed answers and he would get them from Odin. Loki knew he would only be able to hold the All-Father for a short time. He was determined to get his answers. Using a tendril a power he awakened the King of Asgard. The god’s one eye snapped open.

“My son,” Odin breathed still a bit disoriented from the forced slumber.

“No, I’m afraid not. I think we both know I wasn’t ever truly your son.” Loki was angry that Odin would try and appeal to him now.

“Loki—”

“No, you will not speak. It is your time to listen to me. They call me Liesmith yet you and I both know you are a far better weaver of false-truths than I could ever be.”

Odin stared up at Loki looking disgruntled. Loki could feel the surge of power from the All-Father, and he knew that he only had a little time left.

“I remember everything. Thanks to combination of that vile Midgardian beast’s thrashing and the power of the Chitauri staff. Together they helped unlock certain memories that you have kept hidden from me these past thirteen years. I remember being Lily. I remember my husband, my child. You kept me from going after him, from saving him from that wretched mortal magic user,” Loki hissed into Odin’s face.

“No, Loki, the child was already dead by the time you returned to Asgard. I erased your memories to spare you the grief of losing a child,” Odin pleaded.

“It was not your choice to make!” Loki leapt to his feet, glaring down at Odin. Inside he was devastated. He rationally understood that it was more than likely that his son was dead. To have Odin admit to his child’s death was another matter entirely. It crushed him and he wanted to destroy the world to express his rage.

“It has been made, there is no changing it,” Odin said firmly.

“I know, and you will pay the price for it. Goodbye Odin, the next time you see me will be the day you draw your last breath,” Loki swore.

With that he turned and left. Frigga had been the only one who had treated him as an equal to Thor. Now Frigga was gone. There was nothing left him for on Asgard. Odin would suffer for keeping the truth for him. Asgard would suffer for following a king such as Odin. His James was dead, his beloved son was likewise gone. There was nothing left for him period. He had nothing to lose, nothing but his desire for revenge against those who had caused the deaths of those he loved. He would hunt down every last Death Eater and he would destroy them. Then he would lay waste to Midgard and then to Asgard. His original plans to rule the world were no longer important, now he just wanted to watch it burn.

Using the magic that was only known to him, he slipped past Heimdall and to enter Midgard. He made his way to the place where his mortal body had fallen. Godric’s Hallow was just he remembered as he walked down the street. He changed his outfit in to that of the coat and scarf he wore in Germany as he approached the home where he and James had spent their married years. The house itself was cloaked in a concealing spell to hide it from prying eyes of mortals. There was a monument of some sort in front of the house but he didn’t stop to read it, he was too focused on the house in front of him. It had been preserved just the way it had been the night of the attack. Loki slowly approached the house. He was a god, he shouldn’t be feeling so frightened of an abandoned house. Yet, he was. He was terrified of entering the decrepit place. To see a place he had been so happy in so destroyed.

Loki pushed open the front door, and stepped inside. The living room was dark. Things were overturned and dust coated everything. Loki felt a pang. The memories, so recently returned, were fresh in his mind. It seemed like only yesterday that he had been here. He could practically still see James playing with Harry on the rug while he was making dinner. The sounds of their laughter rang in his ears. Now they were gone. During his life as Lily he had always felt dissatisfied, like something important was missing. It was in Godric’s Hallow that had he had truly come to love and accept his life on Midgard. It was a place he had welcomed and loved. Now it was all gone. Nothing but a pile of rubble and lost dreams.

Loki continued through the house. He made his way up the stairs and slowly made his way towards the nursery. At the threshold, he paused. The once warm, and bright nursery was utterly destroyed, even more so than the rest of the house so far. The roof had been blown off and pieces were scattered across the floor. Loki swallowed convulsively as he approached the crib. He had lost his mortal life here in an attempt to save his child. If only he had remembered who he truly was sooner. If only he could have stopped Voldemort sooner. Tears filled his eyes as he reached the crib. He braced himself as he looked down into the empty crib. He was painfully reminded of all the times he had looked down into that very same crib and was joyfully met with a smiling little face and bright emerald green eyes so similar to his own.

Harry had been the light of his life. His treasured child. The first child he’d gotten the chance to keep and nurture. If only for a short time. Loki loved all his children but because they were so often seen as monsters Odin had forced him to give them up. He’d been young and still clung to Odin’s approval and so he had agreed. But he comforted himself with this separation by knowing that at least they were still alive. If Odin had not sent them away it was very possible that some noble Asgardian fool would decide to slay one of his children to earn fame and glory. Loki wished he could take it back. He wished that he had fought more for his children. Perhaps if he had three of his sons wouldn’t be lost to him and the other wouldn’t have died. He remembered rocking Harry to sleep at night, cuddling him close, and telling him stories. He hadn’t gotten those experiences with his other sons and that made his death all the more painful.

A worn stuffed stag caught Loki’s attention. It sat in the crib, abandoned like Loki himself. He remembered James coming home with the stuffed toy one night. He’d been thrilled to find a stuffed version of his animagus form. Harry had loved it and insisted on having it with him before he would settle down to sleep at night. Loki snatched it up, and pulled it tightly to him wishing that it still held the faint scent of his child. He held it close for a moment allowing himself a moment of grief. He tucked the toy safely into his jacket, and swept from the house. He was unable to remain in the house any longer. There were too many memories in the house, and those pleasant memories were overridden by the horrible tragedy that occurred.

Once he had left the house he noticed the cemetery that was close by. With a feeling of dread he made his way towards it. He didn’t want to go inside but he knew that he had to. He easily found his way to the Potters and before long he was standing in front of his own grave. He disregarded his own name and looked at James’s. For a moment he allowed the rush of memories of the mischievous and arrogant man to flood him. He had tried so hard to win his affections. No matter how often he had spurned him, James had just come back to try twice as hard. The boy had tried serenading him and giving him gifts, and in a general made an absolute fool of himself all in an attempt to gain Loki’s attention.

But what was even more James had been willing to listen to him and had actually cared about what he had to say. The two of them could talk about anything. In the end the man had been willing to change and mature for him. They’d grown so close. His kind and playful nature along with his utter devotion assured Loki’s love in turn. No one had ever cared for him like that before. No one had ever truly loved Loki. But the question was would James have loved him if he had known the truth? Would he have sacrificed himself for Loki as he done for Lily? For Loki there was no distinction between his two selves but would James have felt the same knowing his wife was really a Norse _God_?

Loki shook off the morose thoughts. There was no use speculating over what could have been. He created a bouquet of flowers and placed them on the graves. He then drudged up the courage to look at the graves beside James’s. Quickly he realized that neither one belonged to Harry. He looked around the immediate area searching for the stone marking his child’s grave but he couldn’t see it anywhere.

“Are you looking for something, dear?”

Loki turned to see a familiar old woman standing him.

“Bathilda,” Loki breathed in surprise.

“Do I know you, dear?” she frowned looking him over closely.

“I was a friend of the Potters. They’ve told me about you,” he quickly amended.

“Oh, you do look familiar. Something about the eyes,” she murmured, still looking him over closely.

“Pardon me, I’ve been out of town for a while and I’ve come to pay my respects to the Potters. However, I can’t seem to find the Potter’s son’s headstone. Could you point me in the right direction?” Loki requested, laying on the charm as thickly as possible.

Balthilda gave a dry chuckle. “You really must have been out of town, my boy, if you don’t know about what happened to little Harry Potter.”

“What do you mean by that?” Loki demanded sharply before he could catch himself.

Balthilda gave him a stern glare. “My apologies ma’am. Could you please elaborate on your meaning a bit?”

Her look was still stern but she gave one short nod before continuing. “When He-Who-Must-Not-be-Named attacked that Halloween night he killed James first who was trying to hold him off to buy time for Lily and Harry to get away. Lily ran to the nursery and it was there she sacrificed her life for little Harry. With Lily dead there was no one to stop He-Who-Must-Not-be-Named from doing what he did next. However, it was the last thing that he ever did. He cast the Killing Curse on the boy but it didn’t kill him. It ricocheted off of Harry and hit You-Know-Who, destroying him completely. The only thing that happened to little Harry was he got a scar in the shape of lightning bolt on his forehead.”

Loki stared at her, his heart was racing and he could scarcely believe her words.

“No one quite knows how it happened but the boy was hailed as a hero afterwards. The entire wizarding world rejoiced. A child was the one to finally rid us of that madman. The rumor is that Lily’s sacrifice saved the boy. Or at least that’s what some believe since the truth is still a mystery,” Bathilda commented.

“Harry’s alive,” he whispered to himself.

“Yes,” Bathilda nodded firmly.

“Where is he? Please you must tell me,” Loki said barely restraining himself from grabbing up the old woman and shaking her.

“Why, he’s at Hogwarts of course. In his fourth year now. They’re having the Tri-Wizard Tournament at Hogwarts this year, you know. There are all sorts of things in the paper about it. There was a big uproar what with young Mr. Potter being the fourth champion and all,” Bathilda seemed more than happy to continue gossiping to him.

Loki wracked his memories as Lily. He vaguely remembered reading something about the dangerous tournament. But he could have sworn that champions had to at least be of age to compete, and that there were only three champions. It had to be the reason for the controversy of his competing. But it hardly mattered, that was something that he could worry over later. His son was alive! And more importantly he knew exactly where to find him. It worried him a bit over how Harry had survived the Killing Curse. There was a certain amount of magic to love and sacrifice. But he didn’t think it would have been capable of stopping the curse. Loki was a very knowledgeable expert on most areas of magic and he had been certain that Harry wouldn’t have been able to survive the Killing Curse if it had been directed towards him due to his mortal body.

Unless, of course, Harry wasn’t a mortal. The mortal magic of the Killing Curse wasn’t enough to strike down an immortal Asgardian as was evident in Loki’s own survival. Loki hadn’t thought for a moment that Harry could have been immortal. After all Harry had been born from Loki’s mortal body through a union with a mortal wizard. But the more Loki thought about it the more plausible it seemed. Perhaps Harry hadn’t been born of his mortal body after all. The body that Loki had inhabited had been restored from death by the All-Father’s power and then filled with Loki’s own essence. The mortal body must have been altered by this change and Harry must have inherited more of Loki’s immortal blood than he had previously believed.

But Loki wasn’t an Aesir like he had always believed himself to be. He was a Jotun, a runt yes with incredible magical gifts, but a Jotun nonetheless. No matter how much he wished it were otherwise. Harry could have easily inherited more of Loki’s power and blood through the constant connection they had shared while Loki had carried Harry. How much had his cursed blood affected Harry? He needed to find out. At least now he knew where to find his son.

Feeling hope and anticipation he set off to be reunited with his youngest son.


	3. Fire and Ice

The day of the first task fell upon a brisk but sunny morning. Harry was feeling fairly confident about his ability to complete the task especially after Hagrid had let it slip just what the task was. Harry had really beaten himself up over it but eventually he had decided to tell Cedric about the dragons. All of the other champions knew about them, and Harry really didn’t think the competition would be fair if one of the contestants didn’t know. Besides if he was going to win he wanted everyone to be starting out on the same, equal playing field.

Breakfast was a tense event. More than half of the school still hated him, and Ron still refused to even glance his way. Their relationship only seemed to be worse after their confrontation in the common room the other night when he’d been fire-calling Sirius. Hermione was sitting by him at least. It was nice to have some form of support for the upcoming trial he was about to face. She’d been really supportive, and the two of them had spent a lot of time in the library together working out a plan of action for when he faced the dragon. She’d helped him to learn a spell that would hopefully help him have some advantage while moving around the dragon.

All too soon the morning was over, and it was time for Harry to make his way down to the tent. The four champions were supposed to meet there before the start of the first task to go over just what was expected of them. Of course that was also supposed to be the first time they found out about the dragons. But since this competition seemed to be more about who could be the best cheater all of them were already aware of the dragons. McGonagall was the one to come and collect him. If Harry didn’t know any better he would have said that she looked worried.

Ludo Bagman greeted him in a bright and cheerful manner that Harry really didn’t appreciate. The other champions seemed far too distracted to do anything but glance in his direction. They were all a bit nervous about the upcoming task. Fleur Delacour was pale while Viktor Krum’s face set in a permanent scowl, which took to believe meant that he was nervous too. Cedric was pacing around the tent nonstop. Facing a dragon in front of an audience was definitely not something they were all looking forward to. It did make Harry feel a bit better to see these older and more experienced wizards and witch so nervous. It gave him the confidence that this was a task that was just as difficult for them as it was for him.

Bagman produced a bag that contained the dragons they would be going against, and the order in which they would be going. Harry of course received the vicious Hungarian Horntail and would be going last. Bagman pulled Harry aside to ask him if he was prepared to face the dragon. Harry felt singled out and annoyed that the man would do that to him. He already felt different enough from the other champions he didn’t need Bagman’s sympathy.

Cedric went out first and Harry listened to Bagman’s commentary about his performance. As he was waiting a man approached him. He was tall and wore elaborate black robes with gold trim. His long jet-black hair was slicked back behind his skull. He had a sharp, hungry look about him, and his emerald green eyes were staring at Harry intently. It made Harry vaguely uncomfortable and he had to look away from the man’s intense gaze. Harry decided that he must work with the Ministry as part of the Tournament committee it was the only explanation for why he was in the champion’s tent. He did look vaguely familiar. It must have been when he had met the other people working on the tournament. The man’s intense stare was a little unnerving, and led Harry to believe that he was someone with an obsessive interest in the Boy-Who-Lived. It was really quite distracting when Harry was trying to listen to the other champions and plan out just how he was going to use his broom to get that golden egg.

“Er, hullo,” Harry finally blurted out when the staring got to be too much.

The man chuckled, and gave an embarrassed half smile. “Forgive me. It’s simply that I did not expect you to look so much like your father and mother.”

That caught Harry’s attention. Everyone said Harry looked like his dad. This was the first person to comment that he looked like both of them. He also said it with a bit of familiarity as if he had personally known them.

“Did you know them? My parents? Did you go to school with one another?” Harry questioned eagerly, giving the man his full attention and nearly forgetting all about the task with the chance to learn more about his parents.

“I did. Wonderful people. I knew them both quite well, actually,” agreed the man.

“Really?”

“Yes, I’ve been away for a little while and I’ve just come back to England. I heard about the tournament and that you were participating in it. I thought that I would stop by to watch. Are you prepared to face the dragon?” the man asked looking concerned.

“I think so. But I guess we’ll find out huh?” Harry grinned at him.

The man smiled back. “You looked very much like your father just then.”

“Yeah?” Harry grinned wider.

“Yes, I wasn’t expecting it,” the man was smiling but there was a deep sorrow in his eyes. Harry decided that he and his dad must have been pretty good friends.

Harry wanted to ask the man more questions about just how well he new his dad but just then Bagman announced him.

“Well, I have to go fight a dragon right now but maybe the two of us could talk another time? Maybe after the tournament?” Harry asked hopefully. “We can meet back here after the task.”

“I would love to,” the man nodded quickly, seeming to be just as eager.

“Great! Well, I’ll see you after then,” Harry told him enthusiastically.

As he stepped out of the tent he pushed the man from his mind. He needed to focus on the task. He needed to do well especially with a man who knew his parents watching him. He didn’t want to fail in front of him if the two of them were going to talk about his parents afterwards. He wanted to make his parents proud.

Setting his shoulders back he stood up tall and firm. His heart was racing but he was determined not to show an ounce of fear. The crowd applauded as he stepped into the arena. The cheers weren’t as loud as it had been for the other champions but he supposed it was better than being heckled. As he walked further into the arena the crowd soon became the last thing on his mind. The Hungarian Horntail was much larger out of its cage, and a lot angrier. Harry could only gape at the massive fire-breathing beast in front of him. He was momentarily stunned. He couldn’t move or speak he was so intimidated as he stared into its vicious yellow eyes.

The burst of flames that suddenly shot from the Horntail’s mouth forced Harry into action. He ducked behind one of the many rocks that littered the terrain of the arena before the blast could hit him. Harry focused on breathing and regrouping himself. He had to stick to his plan. Hermione and Mad-Eye had told him to stick to his strengths, and one of his strengths was flying. He just hoped that the spell would work for him. As he prepared himself his eye caught that of the dark haired man from earlier. The man wore a worried expression but it disappeared when he noticed Harry’s gaze. The man flashed him a quick encouraging smile. Harry smiled back, feeling more confident in his abilities.

“ _Accio_ Firebolt,” Harry commanded firmly.

He waited anxiously, praying that the spell would work. It wasn’t long before heard the whistling sound of his broom soaring towards him. With his fast reflexes he was able to catch the broom and mount it in a matter of seconds. The crowd cheered as he soared through the arena. Having the broom allowed him to maneuver much more quickly around the dragon. He twirled and looped around the dragon. His goal was to try and aggravate it enough for it to give up its protective stance around the egg. Once the dragon had distanced itself somewhat he was planning on swooping down and snatching the egg from its place.

However he got too close without being careful and he accidentally put himself in the direct line of fire. He didn’t have time to swerve.

“ _Glasius,_ ” Harry cried aiming the spell towards the oncoming fire. It was a spell that they had learned just last year. Harry was surprisingly good at the spell in fact he had caused the entire room to ice over on his first attempt without really even trying.

Fire and ice met in mid air with a force that sent a shockwave through the arena. The ice continued to pour from his wand with an alarming amount of power. Harry glanced down at his wand to see that his hands were turning that same slate blue color they had the other night. Harry almost lost his grip on the spell when he saw it. He managed to hold on to it though and tried his best to ignore the fact that color was spreading up his arms. If he dropped the spell now he would be severely burned. Harry knew that he just had to outlast the dragon. Eventually it would have to stop to take a breath, and Harry felt like he could hold up this ice spell for eternity if he really had to.

The dragon suddenly ran out of breath and the full force of the spell struck the dragon. It iced over the dragon’s muzzle but didn’t cover its whole head. Harry took that opportunity to fly over and snatch up the golden egg. He was able to dart away just in time before the dragon was able to melt off the layer of ice that had formed on its face.

“Harry Potter has gotten his golden egg! He has completed the first task in the shortest amount of time yet! And look at the power behind that ice spell! Not to mention his incredible flying skills. Let’s hope that the judges recognize his daring skills!” Bagman cheered.

Harry quickly left the arena. He wanted to make his way back to the tent. He wanted to speak with his parent’s friend. He made his way back to the tent but was stopped by Hermione.

“Thank Merlin you’re all right. You did a wonderful job Harry,” she said giving him a quick tight hug.

“Yeah, great job, mate. Thought you were a goner for a minute there with all that fire.”

Harry looked up to see Ron standing awkwardly behind Hermione. He looked very repentant. Harry glared at him.

“Look, Harry, I’m sorry okay? I was an idiot. There’s no way you’d be crazy enough to put your name in that goblet with how dangerous this whole thing is. I reckon someone must have put your name in to try and kill you,” Ron continued.

“Well, I’m glad you finally realized that. It’s too bad that it only took me nearly dying for you to figure that out,” Harry wasn’t going to forgive him so easily. Even if it was a relief to have Ron back on his side again.

“Yeah, I’m really sorry Harry,” Ron looked remorseful.

“Just give me some time to work things out and prove to me that you really mean it because I won’t give you another chance if you turn on me again,” Harry said in a somewhat softer tone. He was kicking himself but his ability to remain mad at his friends was practically nonexistence. It was no doubt a trait he’d earned from growing up without friends.

Ron nodded looking a bit more hopeful.

Hermione grinned at the two of them looking extraordinarily pleased that the two of them had semi made up with one another.

Ron wanted to talk more and Harry was willing to so that he could learn more about the other champions’ tactics but he really wanted to speak with his parent’s friend first. They had promised to meet back up in the tent to his disappointment he wasn’t there. The other champions were there, however. They congratulated one another, and listened as the scores were given out. Crouch gave him a nine. Dumbledore gave him a nine. Maxine gave him an eight. Karkaroff gave him a four. And Bagman gave him a ten. Harry was pleased to discover that this put him in a tie for first place with Krum. However, this excitement was tempered by the fact that he had just witnessed his hands turning blue again. There seemed to be some correlation between the cold and his hands turning blue. The situation seemed to be more serious than he initially believed. He needed to find out what was going on.

Harry wanted to go in search of his parent’s friend but the arena was swamped with people. Harry hadn’t even been able to catch the man’s name, which he was really kicking himself for. People swarmed him to congratulate him. It was nice to have the support of Hogwarts. Everyone but the Slytherins had cheered for him once they had realized just how dangerous facing the dragons was. Harry couldn’t help but feel a little angry, though. It was hurtful that it took him surviving a death-defying stunt before they realized that just maybe he didn’t willingly sign up for this.

Harry and Ron did go for a little walk to have a chat about the other champions’ skills. Harry wasn’t quite ready to go back to the way things had been before. His easy betrayal still stung, and it would be a while before he trusted him again. Rita Skeeter tried to get an interview with Harry but he quickly brushed her off. After their talk Harry allowed the rush of well-wishers to lead him back up to the castle for the feast. It was a bit disheartening to see how quickly the tides of the public opinion could change. He just tried to enjoy the entire thing. At least he wasn’t the most hated person in school any longer.

Harry would have enjoyed his winning more if his parent’s friend had stuck around, and if his hands weren’t turning blue when he got cold. But all in all it was a nice victory. It felt nice to prove everyone who thought he was a scared little boy just looking for attention wrong, and that he was capable of taking care of himself. It was all ruined by his turning blue. He needed to figure out just what was wrong with him. He also couldn’t but be worried that someone might have seen him. But he was reassured when not a single person mentioned it. This was something he would need to work out on his own.

Harry had to wait for a couple of days until he had a chance to be alone. After winning the first task it seemed that a lot of people wanted to apologize to him for their treatment of him. It was all very hypocritical of them but Harry was getting used to the general public’s constantly changing opinion of him. Not to mention Ron seemed determined to earn his trust back. Surprisingly he hadn’t been too persistent but he hadn’t left his side since the first task. It was nice to have him back at his side. He was a huge help with all those who were still being antagonistic to him, like Malfoy. Unfortunately, Ron’s being glued to his side waylaid his chance to experiment on his turning blue. After a few days he managed to slip away with the excuse that he needed to try to solve the riddle of the egg for the second task. The piercing shriek the egg produced was rather puzzling, not to mention painful to his ears.

He headed to the third floor bathroom for some privacy. Once there Harry started filling the tub with ice-cold water. To ensure that it was as cold as possible he sent a quick _glasius_ at the water. Deciding that he was crazy for doing this but doing it anyway he stripped down to a pair of old shorts and waded into the water. He had braced himself for the cold sting of the water but to his surprise it felt no different than stepping into a lukewarm bath. There were ice chunks floating in the water. He should have been freezing.

Once he was completely submerged, Harry looked down at his body. He watched in fascination as his skin started turning blue. It happened much more quickly than the previous times. It spread out to cover his entire body, and this time he watched as these strange raised markings appeared along with the change in skin color. They almost looked like smooth brands on his skin. With a detached fascination he traced the strangely beautiful patterns on his skin. His whole body was blue now, and Harry didn’t really know what to do about it. His whole body musculature seemed to have rearranged as well, and his movements, the way his muscles stretched and flexed, felt different as he shifted in the water. This was proof of something he wasn’t quite sure he was ready to face.

He turned to step out of the water needing to get away from whatever was happening to him. He grabbed his towel where it rested on his bag but he stopped with his hand on the towel. He had caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and he was completely frozen by what he saw. His entire face was blue. The brand like marks wove over his face as well. His green eyes seemed to glow eerily bright out of his now blue face framed by his messy jet-black hair. Harry stumbled back, trying to get away from his own startling appearance. He ended up falling back into the water pulling his towel and bag in with him. The egg that had been in his bag must have opened because while beneath the water he heard music playing.

Harry latched on to the chance to distract himself and listen to the egg’s song. He was able to infer that it was something about the merpeople in the lake stealing something of his, and he would need to get it back within an hour. At least he had one problem solved. Now he would just need to figure why he was turning blue. It was obvious that he was some sort of magical creature. He just didn’t recognize which one. His knowledge of the subject was vague at best. Magical creatures weren’t his strong suit after all he’d only recently been aware that Veela existed and could have children with wizards. The real question was why he was turning into this creature. It couldn’t have just sprung up from nowhere. It had to have come from somewhere. The question was where?

He climbed out of the water and waited for his skin to turn back to normal. He waited. And waited. And waited some more. He was beginning to get nervous that he wasn’t going to turn back to his normal color when the door burst open.

“Harry!”

Harry whipped around to see Hermione and Ron standing in the doorway. Whatever they had come to tell him was forgotten in the face of his altered appearance. Their shocked expressions said it all.

“I can explain,” Harry gasped, his mind scrambling for a credible explanation for why he looked this way.

“Harry?” Hermione’s hand covered her mouth and she looked worried.

“It’s me,” Harry assured them quietly.

“Did the egg do that to you?” Ron questioned quizzically, looking from the egg to Harry’s blue self.

“No,” Harry said softly.

“A spell gone wrong?” Ron persisted.

“No,” Harry said again.

“I don’t understand,” Ron scratched his head looking more confused than scared.

“Harry, you look— you look like a…” Hermione’s voice trailed off uncertainly.

“Like a what?” Harry demanded.

“A Frost Giant,” Hermione replied tentatively.

“A Frost Giant?” Harry frowned. He’d obviously heard about them especially with all the new interest in all things otherworldly. But he hadn’t seen a picture of them yet.

“I mean you’re smaller but the color, the markings, and the physical structure are the same as the pictures. I’ve studied them quite a bit along with various other beings since the attack on New York City led by Loki. I’ve wanted to learn more about Asgard and the other realms. It really is quite fascinating. The Frost Giants or Jotuns as they are called are the natives of the world Jotunheim. It is a world made entirely of ice.”

“And I’m only turning blue when I get cold,” Harry whispered.

“Wait, Harry’s turning into a Frost Giant? How?” Ron questioned looking at Harry in concern. Harry supposed it was better than fear, and Ron running out on him again.

“I don’t know but we’ll figure this out Harry,” Hermione moved to touch his shoulder but stopped at the last moment. “I’ve read that touching the skin of a Jotun can cause instant frostbite so until this wears off we should be careful about touching you. How long have you been like this? Has it only happened in the presence of cold stimuli?”

“Er, yes to the cold question. And I’ve been stuck like this for at least a half hour since getting out of the water,” replied Harry dutifully.

“Right,” Hermione murmured and Harry could tell she was already sorting through all sorts of various texts that she wanted to look through.

“On the bright side I figured out the egg,” Harry offered.

“What was it?” Ron questioned.

Harry told him about the riddle.

“I wonder what they’ll take,” Ron pondered.

Harry shrugged. The tournament was really the least of his concerns right now.

“Perhaps we should try a warming charm Harry and see if it that helps to return you to your normal appearance,” Hermione speculated.

“Maybe, I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” Harry agreed. “Do you think I should send a letter to Sirius? He might know if there’s Jotun blood or something in the family tree. I mean that would explain it all right? Some sort of latent inheritance?”

“I suppose he might know something. But I don’t think it would be possible to have Jotun blood in your family line considering touching a Frost Giant’s skin can be deadly to a human,” Hermione pointed out before completing a warming charm on him.

Harry conceded her point. The warming charm on the other hand was surprisingly uncomfortable. It made his skin prickle and he wanted to get away from the heat of it. However, it seemed to do the trick and slowly, almost reluctantly, his skin began to return to its natural pale, creamy tone. He checked his appearance in the mirror and released a sigh of relief to once more be himself again.

“It looks like we have some research to do,” Harry sighed.

Ron and Hermione only nodded. The former looked morose at the prospect of studying while the latter looked all too eager to get started. As for Harry he just wished that his life would just be simple for once.

 

///

 

Loki’s mind was a whirling chaotic mass. He needed to get away and quickly to pull himself together. He fled the grounds of Hogwarts. He’d promised his son that he would stay and talk with him after the task. But after what he had witnessed he was unable to remain. He was too unnerved by what he seen.

Everything had been going so smoothly. Loki had been so amazed to be face to face with youngest child, to speak to him. It had been such a shock to see the baby he had rocked to sleep at night in the form of the young man before him. Harry looked so much like James that it hurt. Yet he could easily see himself in his son’s features. Harry had grown up to be a beautiful boy, and Loki could not have been more thrilled to be reunited with him. It was a relief to have concrete proof standing right in front of him that his son was alive and well. There were so many things he wanted to talk to him about.

Loki had been nervous as he watched his son facing a dragon. The stunt seemed far too advanced for a boy of Harry’s age. He’d just gotten his son back he didn’t want to see him eviscerated by a fire-breathing beast. He had been ready to step in at the first signs of trouble. There was no way that he was going to allow harm to come to his child ever again. While he was watching the stunt he was also trying to concoct a plausible explanation for who he was, and how he was going to prove the truth to Harry. He knew he couldn’t exactly just start off with: ‘Hello, Harry I’m your mother. Oh, you thought your mother was dead and a woman, not so. I’m actually a god, and yes that was me that tried to enslave Midgard this past summer’. Yes, he could the conversation going over well.

Loki had been pleasantly surprised with the way that Harry had handled himself with the dragon. It was sensible and his skill on broom had obviously been inherited from James. He’d been so proud of his son’s skills. When Harry’s hands turned blue while using the ice spell Loki had been utterly stunned and terrified. He managed to pull himself together enough to cast an illusion so that no one else would see the changes that came over Harry. Once the task was completed Loki bolted. He knew that his son had inherited more of his immortal characteristics. Loki had never imagined that he would have so much of his Jotun blood to affect his outward appearance. He had made his son a monster, just like him, just like his other children. Loki wasn’t sure if he was ready to face the consequences of that just yet. It killed him and filled with an insurmountable amount of guilt to have poisoned his son in such a manner. He cursed his Jotun blood.

He remembered how upsetting it had been for the births of his other children. Oh, he still loved them, monsters or not. He had just felt horribly guilty to have condemned his children to such a horrible life. He had believed himself to be cursed, and vowed not to have any more children. The discovery of his true parentage had made so much sense to him. It explained why he had always felt so different growing up, why Odin had treated him differently, and why all his children had been born monsters that had to be locked away. He had thought Harry had managed to escape that burden. Now he knew differently, and it crushed him. He had condemned Harry to life of misery just as surely as he had his other children. If Odin ever discovered that Harry was alive and just how much of Loki’s Jotun blood Harry had he would banish him to Jotunheim. The other Frost Giants would surely kill the boy for being a runt just like they had tried to kill Loki.

Loki knew that Harry would need him now more than ever. The more he matured the more likely his heritage would come out. The Jotun blood would continue to make itself known, making him stronger, faster, and causing his human features to bleed away. Loki would need to be there to teach him how to cloak and hide himself. He wanted to be there for him for he knew exactly what it felt like to discover a hidden inheritance. But how could he possibly face his child now, knowing what fate he had doomed him to? He didn’t want Harry to resent, or even hate him. It was bound to happen. How could he not hate him for giving him his cursed blood?

Loki found himself back at Godric’s Hallow without even meaning to. He didn’t think he would ever come back to the desolate house but right now he needed some comfort. He felt listless and didn’t know where he should go from there. He found an old photograph of the three of them that had been left behind. They looked so happy. James so full of life. Harry smiling and so innocent. His own features were so full of love, and carefree joy he hadn’t experienced except within these walls. He missed it. He would give anything to still be Lily Potter.

He tucked the picture in his pocket. He stood up and went to a cracked mirror. With minimal effort he cast an illusion of his old body. He carefully aged it a bit to match the years that had passed. He sighed and dropped the illusion. Turning away from the mirror he looked back over the dusty and broken home. This life was over. It was difficult for him to process due to the memories still feeling so recent. But he needed to move on. He was Loki, a Prince of Asgard, and a god amongst the pitiful mortal Midgardians. Once he had been Lily Potter and a part of him always would be but he couldn’t return to that life. At least he had something to remember that life by. He had his son and right now his son needed him. If he had cursed his son it was only right that he be the one to fix it.

He swept from the old house and out into the street, determined to find a way to aid his son.

“Brother.”

Loki turned slowly. He paused to Thor standing there in full battle armor. He looked very angry.

“Thor,” Loki replied evenly.

“You are coming home!” Thor shouted. “Before you can cause anymore damage to Midgard.”

“Really?” Loki drawled preparing to teleport. He would need to go as far as possible to get Thor off his trail. It would delay his plans a bit but he couldn’t take the risk of letting Thor and in turn Odin know his son had survived.

“Yes, father has told me of what happened. Of your dead child. I am so sorry, brother. Father is willing to forgive you for what has happened if you just return home,” Thor pleaded.

“No, I don’t think I will. Asgard is not my home anymore,” Loki hissed all his old anger at Thor and Odin flaring up. How easily they could dismiss his pain and suffering as something trivial. He hated them.

“You leave me with no choice then, Loki. If you will not come willingly then I will have to bring you myself. I will have to get in contact with my fellow Avengers as well,” Thor said smugly.

“Let them come. None of you will catch me,” he flashed Thor a bright

Loki flashed a bright grin and disappeared.


	4. Frozen

Loki laughed as he watched the unreasonably patriotic man crash into the pathetic archer. He’d set a marvelous trap for them, and of course they had all fallen right into with hardly any effort on his part. The so-called Avengers had been out for his blood for weeks now, and he was really getting tired of dodging them. No matter how many times he defeated them and got away they just kept finding him. It was no doubt Heimdall’s interference. His all-seeing gaze insured that there was nowhere on Midgard that he could hide from him. But Loki was working on that. The sooner he completed the enchantment the sooner he could get these buffoons off his back.

Once he was hidden from Heimdall’s gaze he could finally get back to concentrating on his son. If only the idiots would leave him alone long enough to complete his task. He only had one last ingredient to acquire.

He turned just in time to avoid the blast from the Man of Iron. The man somehow always managed to worm his way out of Loki’s traps.

“Hey, Reindeer Games let’s stop playing cat and mouse. Why don’t you just turn yourself in now and save me the trouble of kicking your sorry butt? I have so many better things I could be doing right now than chasing you around,” Tony Stark drawled.

“As do I,” Loki muttered sending a blast of magic towards the metal man.

Stark was thrown down, and Loki attempted to make his escape. He did not see Thor sneak up behind him. Loki grunted with pain as Mjolnir slammed into his back. He crashed through a couple of walls, and came to land on his back with the impudent hammer lodged firmly on his chest. Loki

“Hello brother,” Thor greeted.

“I’m not your brother,” Loki gritted out.

“You will always be my brother, Loki,” Thor replied. Loki couldn’t help but notice how self-assured Thor sounded. It was quite a change from the spoiled, over confident idiot he had once been. Apparently getting away from Odin and coming to Midgard had been good for Thor. As good as it had been for Loki, now that he remembered his time as Lily Potter.

“Then just let me go, Thor. I promise you I am not up to any mischief,” Loki swore, for once telling Thor the truth.

“You have done too much for me to trust your words. And you have committed to many crimes that you must answer for. I cannot let you go free,” Thor answered.

“Of course not. Even after I helped you save your mortal woman, and protected Asgard,” Loki angled for making Thor feel guilty.

“You faked your death, imprisoned our father, and then impersonated him so that you could take the throne,” Thor growled.

“I gave it up. I let Odin go. I have no designs on the throne,” at least not at the moment.

“I do not believe you. Ruling has been all you have ever wanted.”

“Things change, Thor. I have changed.” After a moment of hesitation Loki added, “There are some loose ends that I must see to from my previous time on Midgard.”

“What sorts of loose ends? Is this about the punishment father gave you? About your child?” Thor questioned softly.

“Yes,” Loki snapped.

Thor regarded him with such sad eyes. Loki was certain that he almost had him. Thor was almost too easy to manipulate sometimes.

“Please brother, let me go. There is something that I must finish,” Loki pleaded.

“We can do it together. Just confide in me, Loki. I want to help you,” Thor insisted.

“I cannot, what you know the mortals will soon know. I do not want them involved in my affairs,” Loki glanced away.

“Then you leave me no choice, brother. I will have to take you in,” Thor pulled handcuffs and a muzzle from his side.

Loki put up enough of a fight to make it seem convincing but he was smirking when Thor turned him on to his stomach to cuff his hands behind his back. He had been looking everywhere for the last ingredient for his concealment charm. As it so happened SHIELD just happened to have it. Loki had just needed a way to infiltrate them. The best way to get in was to have the Avengers ‘capture’ him. They would bring him right to it. Loki was confident that he would be able to get back out again without any problems.

He pretended to be angry and defeated as Thor and the other Avengers kindly escorted him to the top secret, maximum security SHIELD base. They kept only the most dangerous projects and prisoners there. Loki glanced at his fellow prisoners as he was marched down the hall. In the other cells he caught sight of a harmless looking one-armed man, a huge hideous beast with spines, and many other interesting characters. Mortals had certainly advanced in the past years, and so many of them were willing to experiment on themselves to gain power. Loki had to admit that it had ended with some interesting results. Loki smirked. He could definitely work with this.

For two days Loki waited patiently before he making his move. He wanted to lull the mortals into a false sense of security that he wasn’t able to escape from them. In reality he could leave his cell whenever he wanted to. Only the magically enhanced cells on Asgard were capable of containing and his powers. Loki also wanted to learn a little bit more about the security surrounding the base so he could better locate the required item. He also needed to wait for Thor and his mortal friends to leave the area. It would have been more of a hassle to fight them off while obtaining the necessary object.

Once he was properly prepared, he struck. He escaped from his cell by simply vanishing the glass, and removed the agents guarding the corridor with swift efficiency. Loki then summoned his battle armor. The armor shimmered into existence as he walked down the corridor. He knew the display was enough to impress the mortal monsters cowering in their cages. They would be more inclined to work with him after the display of power.

“My friends, would you like me to free you as well?” Loki called out.

They shouted out their affirmations, their cries sounding out louder than the blare of the building’s security alarm.

“You must promise me something first,” Loki shouted above the din. They instantly quieted. “You must promise me that you will seek your revenge against the injustices SHIELD has brought upon you!”

They screamed and cheered even louder than before. Loki grinned and used one of the agent’s keys to unlock the cells. He took a moment to enjoy the sight of all the prisoners escaping. The chaos was quite beautiful he reflected as he stepped out of the way of the large rampaging spine covered creature broke through a wall. With releasing some of SHIELD’s most dangerous enemies it would give him some time to complete what he needed to. Loki moved through the corridors taking out anyone who stood in his path. He smiled when he finally located the room holding the amulet he sought. An Asgardian sorceress had abandoned it on Midgard several centuries ago. It was capable of making the user physically invisible. It would only take a little tampering on Loki’s part to make the amulet make him invisible from Heimdall’s gaze.

Pleased with the way the events had turned out he teleported away from the destroyed SHIELD base. Soon he would be able to approach his son without the worry of anyone else interfering. He couldn’t let anyone know that his son had survived. Loki shuddered at the thought of SHIELD or even worse Odin getting their hands on his child. Loki would do whatever it took to keep Harry safe.

///

“It’s getting worse,” Harry told his two best friends as he plopped down beside them at the breakfast table.

“Whadda you mean?” Ron mumbled around his breakfast.

Hermione glared at him. Ron flushed and closed his mouth.

“Turning blue. It happens all the time now and I don’t how much longer I can hide it from people,” Harry hissed.

It was really worrying him now, and he’d even grown an inch or so in the last couple of weeks. Harry had no idea how far these changes were going to go. He was afraid to touch people in the event that he gave them severe frostbite. He’d taken to covering as much of his body as he could get away with. The rest of the time it took his constant conscious effort to keep his face and hands their normal pale colors. But holding it back felt unnatural and by the end of the day it had left him feeling magically exhausted. He was lucky that he had Ron and Hermione by his side to let him know if he was slipping during the day. Ron also kept a look out when he was changing or showering so no one would accidentally walk in on him.

“Don’t worry, I’m certain that we can find some sort of solution,” Hermione consoled.

“Look at my arm, Hermione,” Harry rolled up his sleeve to reveal the blue skin of his upper arms. “It was only a little chilly in our bedroom this morning, and I had to practically shove my hands in the fire to get them to turn back to normal. How am I going to compete in the Second Task? We have to jump in the bloody lake, and it’s practically frozen!”

“Did you talk to Sirius yet, mate? To see if he knows anything about any of this?” Ron asked.

“No, it’s not really something that I can explain through a letter. I was going to try and set up a meeting with him in the Shrieking Shack during a Hogsmeade weekend. But it’s too risky for him right now, and I’m not sure how much longer I can wait,” Harry was panicking. His body was changing out of his control, and he couldn’t stop it. It was terrifying him. How much longer would it be before he stopped looking human and stayed a Frost Giant all the time?

“We could play it off that you turned blue because of some sort of spell you used during the Second Task backfiring,” Ron offered.

“I think people will notice, Ron, when Harry looks exactly like a Frost Giant,” Hermione sniped.

“At least I’m trying to come up with suggestions,” Ron huffed.

“All of the information I’ve looked up on Frost Giants is ancient. They haven’t been to Earth in the last century and even then I don’t think they’re capable of reproducing with humans. It would kill them. I have no idea where you could have gotten Frost Giant blood, and enough of it for it to be showing up now,” Hermione sounded frustrated.

Harry had to give her credit. She had been spending a lot of time trying to help him find some answers. But the lack of information was really getting to all of them. Harry just didn’t know what to think about any of this. None of it made sense to him. On top of all of that he had to find a date to Yule Ball and figure out a way to solve the Second without anyone seeing new blue skin.

Luckily the problem of having a date was solved when he was out one day by the lake. He had been spending a lot of time out there. The cold was actually soothing to him to him. Harry had discovered a hidden alcove where he could just relax and not hold back all the time. It was a place where no one would see he had become something other than human. But surprisingly enough someone did end up finding him.

By the time he heard the footsteps it was too late for him to hide. Harry was surprised to see a blonde girl with large blue eyes step into the small space. She wore radish earrings and her wand was stuck in her hair. She looked like she was a second or third year. She wore a patchwork cloak made of a bunch of different pieces of cloth including doilies and what appeared to be a rug. Harry stared at her and she stared back with an almost vacant expression in her eyes.

“Have you seen my shoes?” She didn’t seem at all concerned over the fact that Harry was sitting there in the snow not looking the least bit human.

“No…” Harry replied uneasily wondering why she wasn’t screaming or calling for help.

“The Nargles took them and I haven’t been able to find them anywhere,” she sighed and lifted the hem of her cloak to reveal she was wearing nothing but several layers of socks on her feet.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Nargles are quite the tricky little creatures. They love to steal things,” she shrugged blithely.

“Aren’t your feet cold?” Harry couldn’t help but ask.

“No, are yours?” she replied regarding his bare blue feet.

Harry had taken his shoes and socks off to let them swirl in the ice cold water.

“No,” Harry shifted, uncomfortably reminded that he was entirely blue with strange markings covering his body.

“It’s all right if you’re blue. We all get a little blue sometimes,” she assured in her airy voice.

“Not like this, I don’t think,” Harry replied wryly.

“It’s only natural, you are a Jotun after all and they are all blue,” the girl shrugged before flopping down next to him. Harry then noticed the necklace she wore made of corks, bottle tops, and shells. He also caught sight of a Ravenclaw tie under her cloak.

“How do you know that?” Harry frowned.

“Isn’t it obvious?” She responded frowning as well.

“Technically, I suppose. I just didn’t think a lot of people knew about them.”

“My father is an expert on all sorts of creatures. We’re going to go on a trip this summer to look for plimpies in Scandinavia,” she said cheerfully.

“Er, that sounds like fun. What’s your name by the way?”

“Luna Lovegood.”

“I’m Harry Potter. Nice to meet you, Luna,” Harry greeted.

“You too, Harry.”

Harry liked that she had no reaction to him being Harry Potter.

“What can you tell me about Jotuns?” Harry asked curiously.

“They aren’t monsters like they are so often portrayed. They are much smarter than regular giants and have an intricately developed culture. They can occasionally produce powerful magic users as well especially in the royal line. Although, I believe they suffered a great deal after the last war when Asgard took the source of their power: the Casket of Eternal Winters,” Luna explained.

“Hmm,” Harry hummed. He hadn’t expected that answer. He had expected her to list their abilities, not tell him that they weren’t actually all that bad. “How do you know all this?”

“My mother was very interested in Norse mythology. She collected quite a few ancient books. I inherited when she passed,” Luna explained.

“Oh, I’m sorry Luna,” Harry sympathized.

“It’s all right Harry, everyone has their time,” Luna said calmly.

“I suppose you’re right,” Harry agreed after a moment.

The two of them sat in silence for a while. Harry was contemplating how peaceful he felt in Luna’s presence. Harry had no idea what Luna was thinking but her gaze was far away as she could see things that no one else could. Luna was one of the most unassuming people he had ever met, and she had a very interesting view of the world.

“Luna would you like to go to the Yule Ball with me? As friends of course,” Harry added quickly.

“Can I borrow your shoes if the Nargles haven’t returned them by then?” Luna asked cocking her head.

“Yes…”

“All right,” Luna agreed.

“Do you want to help looking for them?” Harry asked.

“Perhaps later,” Luna replied.

“Okay. Um Luna you wouldn’t happen to know anything that will let me stay under the water for an hour?” Harry wondered. She seemed to know a lot about different types of magic.

“As a Jotun you have a much stronger lung capacity. Jotunheim is a world made of ice and ice water. You should be able to hold your breath for at least a half hour. You could test it now, however,” Luna offered glancing at the water.

Harry looked as well. He might as well. The water actually felt nice to him, and he couldn’t imagine it affecting him that much.

“Why not?” He quickly shrugged out of his robes leaving only his pants.

He would have been more insecure about revealing more of his blue skin but Luna wasn’t even looking. She was staring at bush with an intense expression on her face. Harry cast a tempus so that he could time himself before wading into the water. The water felt warm to him as he fully submerged himself. He took one deep breath and dove beneath the water. It was murky and dark beneath the water but the longer he stayed down there the better his eyes adjusted to the water. He didn’t dare swim too far from the edge. He didn’t want to end up in the middle of the lake. Harry had expected to need to come back to the surface within a few minutes but the time seemed to stretch on without him needing to come up for air. He wanted to wait until the last possible moment before he needed to resurface.

When he finally did surface and check the time he was shocked to discover he had been able to hold his breath for about twenty-five minutes. If he practiced a bit he was certain that he could build up his time. Harry thanked Luna for her suggestion and offered her the use of his old trainers he had gotten from Dudley until she found her own shoes. They were old but they no longer fit him or else he would have offered her his new trainers and worn the old himself. She graciously accepted and helped him perform several warming charms until the visible parts of his body had returned to their normal pale tones.

Harry spent the days leading up the Yule Ball swimming in the lake building up his tolerance. He would often meet Luna there and discuss the various creatures she knew. He was certain that some of them weren’t real but he didn’t mind. It was still interesting to listen too, and if they were real he would know how to defend himself against a Horned Crumple Snorcack.

When the day of the Yule Ball finally arrived Ron was still complaining about not getting a date, and how Hermione _had_ gotten a date but refused to tell them who. Their bickering had caused Harry to spend even more time practicing in the lake, which he supposed was sort of a good thing. Harry wore the dress robes he had gotten, and prayed that his body wouldn’t be betray him tonight while he was out in the middle of the dance floor with everyone staring at him.

He and Ron walked down to the Great Hall together. He was grumbling about the dress robes his mum had sent him. Harry had to agree that they were pretty hideous but it was too late to change it now. They met Luna at the entrance. Harry complimented her on her dress. If what she was wearing could be called a dress. Whatever it was silver with blue accents and a lot of lace, tassels, and other frilly things. She had traded her radishes for starfish while she still wore her cork necklace and Harry’s old trainers. Her wand was still twirled up in her hair but she had obviously taken the time to do a more elegant style. Harry thought she looked quite nice even if everyone else happened to be staring.

At the appropriate time Harry and Luna went to meet up with the other champions and their dates. Cedric and his date Cho Chang greeted him warmly while both Krum and Fleur just nodded. Fleur’s date was a Hogwarts student, Roger Davies, while Krum’s date hadn’t arrived yet. Moments before McGonagall called them out onto the floor Hermione made an appearance. To Harry’s surprise she went to Krum’s side. The Quidditch star seemed very smitten with Hermione. Harry couldn’t wait to see Ron’s reaction when he found out Hermione was the date of his idol. It definitely wasn’t going to be explosive. He pushed those thoughts away. He needed to focus on remembering how to dance. Harry couldn’t worry about anyone else’s problems for once.

“It’ll be all right, Harry. If you forget the steps we’ll make something up,” Luna said looking as unconcerned as always.

“Right,” Harry said, nerves making his stomach churn.

In the end the dancing wasn’t that bad. Luna actually knew what she was doing despite the fact that she was singing a song that was completely the wrong tune under her breath the whole time. Harry just concentrated on following her lead and not stepping on her feet. After the first dance in front of everyone Harry ended up having a really great time. Luna danced without a care in the world to songs only she could hear. Harry decided to take a page from her book and not care about the way he looked while dancing. He knew he mustn’t have been very graceful considering how quickly he had been growing but that didn’t matter to him. Ron stormed out of the ball fairly early once he caught sight of Hermione with Krum. They had had some sort of fight but Harry decided he wasn’t going to interfere. It was their fight and he wasn’t going to get in the middle of it. As it turned out Luna was friends with Ginny, and since she had come with Neville the four of them danced together.

Harry and Luna eventually took a break, and decided to talk a walk through the courtyard. Snape was patrolling, on the lookout for anyone who was trying to sneak away to snog in the bushes. He gave Harry a dark look when he saw him escorting Luna outside. Harry just gave him a jaunty wave, and a cheeky smile. Snape’s sneer deepened but he just swept by them in a swirl of great black robes. He and Luna sat on one of the benches outside. Luna was telling him about wrackspurts while he just tried to let the cool night air relax him a bit. It a lot of concentration to control his colder body temperature so that it wouldn’t affect the people he had been dancing beside.

Of course Malfoy and his vile date Pansy Parkinson had to choose that moment to make an appearance. His two large cronies flanked them.

“Potter, I see you’ve stooped to hanging around crazy people now. I knew it was only a matter of time before you went completely mad, Scarhead,” Malfoy taunted.

Pansy tittered. “Yeah, Loony Lovegood? Really Potter? Even you could do better than that.”

“Go away, Malfoy,” Harry growled trying desperately to reign in his temper. With his new greater strength and icy skin he could really hurt Malfoy if he slipped up.

“What’s wrong Scarhead don’t like us insulting your girlfriend? It’s not our fault she’s crazed. Always going on about imaginary creatures. No wonder people are always hiding her things,” Malfoy taunted.

Harry glanced at Luna for confirmation. The only indication that it was the truth was a slight lowering of her head. Harry wished she would have told him about it. He could have helped her find them.

“It’s nothing she doesn’t deserve. She gives purebloods a bad name. Her father is just insane. He’s practically the laughing stock of the wizarding world,” Pansy hissed.

Luna flinched slightly at the mention of her father.

Harry decided that enough was enough. He wouldn’t put up with them being so cruel to Luna. He stood up. Harry was pleased to note that he was actually taller than Malfoy now. In fact he was taller than Crabbe, but not as wide, and he was the same height as Goyle.

“Leave Malfoy before you make me do something I’ll regret,” Harry growled.

“You think you can threaten me, Potter?” Malfoy demanded.

“We should go back to into the Great Hall, Harry,” Luna stated calmly. Her gaze was as distant as ever as she stood up.

“You’re right, Luna. Let’s go,” Harry moved to follow her.

“Not so fast Scarhead,” Malfoy pulled out his wand aiming it at Luna. “There’s something I want to show Loony first.”

Harry didn’t think. He just reacted. Faster than he thought himself capable of, he reached out to grab Malfoy’s wrist to pull him off course. He wanted to make sure that the curse Malfoy was going to send at Luna didn’t reach its intended target. He was relieved when the curse fired harmlessly into a bush.

Malfoy’s scream of pain had him letting go immediately. Harry gaped in astonishment. Malfoy’s wrist was turning black where Harry’s hand had touched his bare skin. Malfoy dropped to the ground clutching his wrist, and Pansy rushed to his side. Crabbe and Goyle looked ready to rush Harry but hesitated when they caught sight of Malfoy’s blackened skin. Even they weren’t stupid enough to blindly grab someone whose touch could cause damage like that.

“Luna?” Harry questioned in a panic. His hands were completely blue now, and he was having trouble willing them away. He quickly shoved them behind his robes to keep them out of sight.

“It’s not your fault, Harry. You can’t help the temperature of your skin, and you didn’t mean to harm Draco,” she assured him. “We should get help.”

Harry was more than willing to follow her advice but Snape yelling his name stopped him dead in his tracks. Harry turned back to see Snape and Mad-Eye Moody moving up the path

“What is going on here? Potter, if you’ve harmed Mr. Malfoy I’ll see you expelled. Miss Parkinson tell me what happened, now.” Snape demanded.

“Potter attacked Draco. He grabbed his arm, and he burned him somehow. Just look at his arm, it’s black!” Pansy shrieked.

She moved so Snape could see the black mark on Draco’s arm in the clear shape of a handprint. Moody was staring at Malfoy whimpering on the ground cradling his arm in agony and then turned to look at Harry. His magical eye rolled to lock on where Harry was hiding his hands. Harry was terrified that the man was able to see his skin.

Snape examined the mark closely.

“This isn’t a burn. It’s frostbite,” Snape looked up at Harry a brief flash of confusion showing in his black eyes.

“He should be expelled,” Pansy insisted.

“I didn’t mean to,” Harry whispered. “He was going to attack Luna.”

Moody’s gaze wandered over to the destroyed bush. He picked up Malfoy’s fallen wand, and performed _Priori Incantatem_ on it.

“A curse Mr. Malfoy?” Moody tsked. “I think Potter was just protecting himself and his date from your dark magic. You should be the one expelled.”

Moody and Snape eyed one another. Snape was sneering at Moody with obvious loathing and Moody stared back. The feeling was obviously mutual.

“I think detention for a month for the both of them will be sufficient to clear up this matter,” Snape drawled.

“I agree,” Moody nodded.

“Well, then Severus it looks like you should get young Malfoy up to the hospital wing it looks like the frostbite is spreading. I’ll take care of Potter,” Moody commanded.

Snape looked like he would argue but then Malfoy let loose another loud groan of pain. Snape sighed and motioned for Crabbe and Goyle to grab hold of Malfoy. He sent one last withering glare Harry’s way before departing.

“Potter, with me,” Moody snapped.

Harry sent Luna a questioning glance. She shrugged. Harry sighed and followed Moody.

“Thank you for that, sir,” Harry said as they walked.

“Malfoy is a slimy little ferret, always slipping away with things just like his father. But I’m not here to talk about Malfoy. What’s wrong with your hands Potter,” Moody demanded.

“Nothing, sir.”

“Don’t lie to me boy. That wasn’t any spell or curse back there with Malfoy. Let me see your hands,” Moody’s tone left no room for argument.

Harry reluctantly revealed his blue hands, with their intricate raised markings. Moody stared at them for a long time.

“This isn’t a spell gone wrong is it, Potter?” Moody half-questioned, half-stated.

“No, sir,” Harry looked away.

“Frost Giant,” Moody said.

Harry nodded turning back to look at Moody. The man’s magical eye was whirling in his skull.

“Frost Giant’s have strong skin, and they’re nearly immortal. No wonder he couldn’t kill you,” Moody muttered.

“Excuse me, sir?” Harry frowned.

“You haven’t told anyone about this but your friends, right Potter?” Moody suddenly snapped.

“No, sir. But why—”

“Good, keep it that way,” Moody snapped before stomping away.

Harry stood there for a moment. The last few moments had happened so quickly. He hardly knew how to process it. In a daze Harry went in search of Luna but Ginny informed him she had gone back to Ravenclaw Tower. That done he went back to his own tower. Harry didn’t think that Moody was going to tell anyone but it made him curious as to what the man thought about it. Harry thought he would have tried to imprison him considering Frost Giants weren’t exactly seen in a positive light. But Moody had stuck up for him with Snape. Who knew how the situation would have turned out if he hadn’t been there? Harry decided he would worry about it more later. Right now he needed to worry about getting himself in control. He was never going to be able to compete in the Second Task with the way things were.

The day of the Second Task finally dawned. Ron and Hermione were still in a bit of a tiff but he had still expected the two of them to walk down with him. As it was only Ron was around to escort him down to the lake. He was hoping to see Luna before the task but he didn’t see her around either. However, while he was scanning the crowd he caught sight of another familiar face. Excitement surged through him. He started moving towards them despite Ron yelling at him to come back.

“You,” Harry said glaring at the man in front of him.

It was his parent’s friend, the one from the first task. His robes were a deep emerald green with gold trim this time but just as elaborate as before. He now sported a large amulet hanging against his neck. But other than that he looked exactly the same as he had before.

“Harry,” the man greeted with a wide smile. The man was so genuinely happy to see him that it halted Harry’s tirade for a moment. But only for a moment. He had really been looking forward to learning more about his parents.

“You were supposed to meet me after the Frist Task,” Harry accused.

“Something came up I’m afraid. I had to leave immediately. I apologize for not saying goodbye. I really wanted the chance to speak with you. We have so much to discuss. How have you been?” he questioned in concern.

“Fine,” Harry muttered unconsciously trying to conceal his hands. The blue had to be creeping past his wrists by now in this cold weather.

As quick as a flash the man’s hand lashed out to grab Harry’s wrist. Startled, Harry tried to pull away before the man was harmed. The man’s grip proved to be surprisingly strong and he easily dragged Harry’s hand up to his eyes. Harry tried to warn him but to his shock, instead of being harmed, the man’s own hands started turning the same blue shade as Harry’s. The man dropped Harry’s hand and the blue tingeing both their skin disappeared.

“How...? Who are you?” Harry demanded in shock pulling away from him.

The man reached out for him. “Harry… I—”

The blaring of the horn startled them both. Harry needed to get to the lake quickly.

“Go, we’ll speak after. I give you my word. And have no fear that anyone will see your skin change. I will hide you,” the man promised.

Harry wanted to argue with him. He wanted to demand he tell him who he was. But there was no time. People would come looking for him and he had a task he needed to complete.

“Don’t go anywhere,” Harry warned as he started to walk away.

“Never again,” the man swore, some deeper meaning to his words that Harry just couldn’t comprehend at the moment.

Harry just nodded and made his way back down to the lake. He hoped the hour went quickly. This man had a lot of things to answer for.


	5. Frigid

Loki watched from the shores as his son disappeared beneath the lake. He was filled with anxious anticipation at finally meeting his son. They had so much to discuss, so many years to overcome. Loki had so much to answer for. Would Harry even accept him? It was a truth that was going to be very hard to accept. What kind of person was Harry? There was so much about his son that he wanted to know. Who had he grown up with? Did he know about the events that took place in New York? How was he coping with the changes going on within him?

“You seem quite interested in Potter,” came a deep, drawling voice that was all too familiar.

Loki turned to see Severus Snape, his childhood friend, standing behind him. The years had not been kind to Severus. The man looked pale and sallow. His hair was lank and greasier than he remembered it ever being in their youth. The man looked tired as if some great burden was weighing against his shoulders. Loki felt a moment of nostalgia for the boy Severus Snape had been. He had been the first person to befriend Loki when he lived as Lily. The first to truly accept him for his magic, and Loki would always be grateful for such a thing. In all honesty he had been the first friend Loki had ever had.

“Do I?” Loki replied offhandedly.

“Yes, I saw you speaking with him earlier. The two of you seem familiar with one another. Tell me, how do you know him?” Severus questioned.

“I met him at the First Task and we spoke for a bit. He was merely saying hello. He’s quite a polite boy. May I ask why you are so interested in my acquaintance with him?” It warmed Loki to think that Severus seemed to be concerned about a stranger speaking to Harry.

“I am his professor. It is my job to pay attention to who my students socialize with. Seeing as you are an unfamiliar face in such a small community I thought I would check in with you,” Severus stated easily.

“Ah, of course. I’m glad to see someone taking their position as an educator so seriously. My name is Logan Silversmith. May I ask your name, professor?”

“Severus Snape, I am the potions professor at Hogwarts. From where exactly are you from, Mr. Silversmith?”

“Here and there,” Loki shrugged. “But originally I am from the North.”

“I see,” Severus replied.

Loki could tell that the man didn’t believe a word he said. But he hadn’t trusted Loki from the beginning. Severus always did have a great sense for catching things that just didn’t belong. He was going to be suspicious of him no matter what Loki did or said. It was surprising to see Severus at Hogwarts. Loki would have never thought that the man would have wanted to become a professor of young children. He was certainly capable of it. Severus was the most brilliant potion’s master that Loki had known. But he never seemed to be one to have the patience for children.

The two of them spoke for a moment about trivial things. After several moments Loki found himself naturally falling into the same report they had used to share before their falling out in their fifth year. Loki found himself unable to hold on to the same anger he had felt towards Severus before. After all he had fallen down the same path to darkness in his desire to seek revenge against Odin and Thor. The urge to reveal himself to Severus was strong. It would have been nice to have a friend again. He managed to stop himself. The fewer people who knew of his existence and true identity the better.

The whistle blowing interrupted their conversation. One of the contestants finally made it out of the water. The female contestant had already been pulled from the water, however she had failed to complete her task. Loki was pleased to see that it was Harry that had returned first. Of course, with a Jotun’s greater strength and speed he was bound to come out on top of these weaker bodied mortals. Harry seemed to have retrieved not just his own important person but also the contestant’s who failed. His son had taken the rhyme literally and retrieved the other contestant’s sister in fear that she would be kept forever by the merpeople. 

Loki smiled when the lovely Veela contestant gave Harry a kiss on the cheek and the boy flushed all the way to the tips of his ears. He was certainly much more modest then James had been despite having the same heroic impulses. Curiosity bloomed inside him as to who his son’s own important person. It was a girl, a girl with earrings made of what looked like some sort of vegetable. He certainly seemed to keep interesting company.

“It was nice speaking to you,” Loki told Severus, truly meaning it. “However, I am going to take my leave, now.”

Loki started walking down to the edge of the lake before Severus could respond. He slipped into the cheering crowd, easily hiding amongst them. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself but he wanted Harry to be able to see him. Loki didn’t have to wait long. Harry’s searching green eyes soon found his own. Loki smiled warmly and tilted his head slightly towards the forest. From where he stood amongst his friends, Harry nodded in agreement.

The forest was peaceful with its touch of frost. The colder weather seemed to slow nature down, and the forest was nearly silent. The silence allowed Loki to hear his son’s approaching footsteps long before he made his appearance. He was dressed only in a robe and the swim trunks that he had been provided with for the task. Loki knew that his son no longer felt the bite of the cold but he still felt obligated to provide him with some shoes and a coat.

“Thank you,” Harry said in surprise when his feet were suddenly covered in sturdy boots and his torso was covered with a fur lined coat.

“You are quite welcome. You did a wonderful job completing the task. You can handle yourself quite well,” Loki commented.

“Thanks,” Harry shifted uncomfortably. Now that he was faced with answers he seemed almost unwilling to get started. Loki didn’t blame him. He himself was reluctant to begin the discussion. If things went poorly this could very well be the last civil moments he ever had with his son.

“I suppose you have questions?” Loki prompted.

“Did you have an affair with my mother? Are you my real father?” Harry asked bluntly.

“Not exactly,” he replied. Loki should have expected this. It was a logical conclusion to draw after seeing the way his skin had changed to match his own. It wasn’t even that far off the mark. Loki was proud of Harry’s reasoning skills even if they had drawn him to the correct conclusion.

“What do you mean, not exactly? How can you ‘not exactly’ be my father?” Harry frowned.

“I should start by introducing myself. My name is Loki. I am from Asgard. Or well, I grew up in Asgard but I was born in Jotunheim,” Loki corrected himself.

“Loki… You’re the one who attacked New York! That’s why you look so familiar. Are you really even a friend of my parents?” Harry demanded, pulling out his wand and pointing it Loki.

“I mean you no harm, Harry. Please you must believe me. I would _never_ harm you. What happened in New York was a mistake. One that I regret greatly,” Loki said softly.

“Like I believe that. You tried to take over the world. You tried to enslave the human race. You’re the God of Lies,” Harry argued. “I should just call for the professors. I don’t even know why I’m still here.”

“Because you are desperate for answers, and I am the only who can give them to you. I want to give them to you. It’s past time you had them,” Loki explained.

“Then just explain. Why am I turning into a Frost Giant? What is your connection to me?” Harry demanded.

“I was raised by the All-Father, Odin, the King of Asgard. I was raised as his son but I wasn’t. I am the monster that Asgardians had been fighting against for centuries. I am Frost Giant. A runt but still a Frost Giant. The son of Laufey, the Jotun’s King. Odin took me from Jotunheim during the last war to raise me in hopes of being a bridge between our two peoples. But it became unnecessary, and I became just another stolen relic in Odin’s treasury. Of course I did not know this growing up. I simply thought that my father preferred my brother over me no matter what I did. So I acted out. And once I went too far and angered Odin. He punished me. He cast me out of Asgard and into the body of a stillborn female child so that I might learn a lesson. I lived my life as this girl. I grew up, discovered that I was witch. I fell in love, I fought in a war, and I had a child. Then my mortal life ended, and I returned to Asgard where my memories of my mortal life was erased until recently when a… cognitive recalibration returned them to me.”

“No. No you can’t be saying what I think you are. It’s not possible. It’s madness,” Harry stared at Loki, anger and disbelief written plain across his features.

“I am, Harry. Once I was Lily Potter. I’m your mother,” Loki laughed unable to believe the words that had come from his mouth.

“No, you aren’t. You’re a man, a god. My mother was a witch who sacrificed her life for mine. How dare you try to pretend to be her!” Harry’s wand hand shook with his rage, and the illusion keeping his human appearance was fading with the force of his anger. Ice was beginning to spread out from around his feet.

“I’m not lying, Harry. I swear to you I was once Lily Potter. And a part of me always will be. You are my son. That is why your skin is blue. You are a Frost Giant or at least half through my blood. It is the reason you survived Voldemort’s attack. Jotuns are immortal and invulnerable to mortal magic,” Loki insisted.

“I don’t believe you. This is just a cruel trick you’re trying to play on me.” The tears in Harry’s eyes were difficult for Loki to bear.

“Then give me another explanation for why you look like a Frost Giant,” Loki demanded.

Harry glanced at his blue hands. “There must be a better explanation. You can’t be my mum. People can’t have their souls or whatever put in other people’s bodies.”

“Humans can’t but for the All-Father the feat is barely more difficult than a wave of the hand. I was Lily Potter. I’m your mother, or your other father if you prefer to simplify things. Just look,” Loki requested and he willed the illusion surrounding him to fall until his Jotun form was revealed.

Harry’s eyes swept over his form tracing the intricate markings. His hands reached up to trace his own.

“Each Frost Giant has their own unique markings for they are often a blend between their two parents. The markings, however, are still similar enough that one is capable of recognizing a familial bond between family members,” Loki explained.

Just like Harry, Loki had noticed the similarities between their markings. They weren’t exactly alike but it was enough that any Jotun who saw them together would know that they were parent and child.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Harry argued.

“We have the same eyes and I know everyone must go on and on about how you have your mother’s eyes,” Loki pointed out as he returned to his Asgardian appearance.

“A lot of people have green eyes,” Harry said stubbornly. But Loki could see there was the slightest bit of uncertainty in his tone. Harry couldn’t ignore the evidence directly in front of his eyes.

“Not the exact shade of ours. Harry you don’t have to believe me just yet. Allow me to prove myself to you. Just give me time to show you I am who I say I am,” Loki requested.

“It’s just a little difficult to wrap my head around the idea. You’re the god who attacked New York, and now you say you’re my dead mum? It doesn’t make sense. I need proof. Is there something that you can tell me that only my mum would know? Something that I could check with Sirius?”

“So Sirius did raise you? I’m pleased to hear that. Did he manage to mature at all?” Loki asked momentarily distracted. He needed to know that Harry had a happy childhood. Sirius would have done his best to provide one, which is why James and he had chosen him to be Harry’s godfather. But the man would have had a lot of growing up to do first.

“No, Sirius didn’t raise me. He was sent to Azkaban because he was my parent’s Secret Keeper and he betrayed them to Voldemort,” said Harry watching Loki closely.

“That’s not right. Sirius wasn’t our Secret Keeper, it was Peter Pettigrew. Sirius would have never betrayed James. He would have died first. But Sirius and James thought it would be a clever switch that no one would suspect. I wasn’t so certain. I should have trusted my instincts and never put our trust in that rat,” Loki replied darkly.

Harry’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “You know? You know Sirius wasn’t the Secret Keeper? You know that Pettigrew is a rat animagus?”

“That’s what I just said, didn’t I?” Loki smirked knowing that this would push Harry closer to accepting the truth.

“But no one knows about that. No one but Sirius and Remus, Dumbledore and Snape, and Ron and Hermione,” Harry protested.

“I know because I was there. I lived it.”

“Then what were the other’s animagus forms? And what did they call themselves?” Harry demanded.

“The Marauders,” Loki sighed in remembrance. He wondered how the pranksters would have felt if the one who was constantly berating them for their childish pranks was actually the real life God of Mischief. “James’s form was a stag. Sirius is a large black dog. And Remus didn’t have an animagus form because he is a werewolf.”

Harry looked stunned. Loki could see the doubt beginning to take hold. Harry just needed a bit more of a push to believe him.

“And Petunia was my sister. She married Vernon Dursley, a vile man. I tried to reconcile the differences that magic had wedged between us when they first started dating. The four of us went on a double and James made a comment about his Gringotts vault. Vernon thought he was taunting him. Petunia and Vernon stormed out of the restaurant. We didn’t much after that. She didn’t even come to our wedding,” Loki murmured. It seemed he was doomed to have difficult sibling relationships.

“That sounds like them,” Harry muttered.

“Wait, if Sirius didn’t raise you who did?” Loki found himself dreading the answer. But he needed to know even though he could probably guess, and he really didn’t like it.

“Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon,” Harry replied.

Loki still wasn’t prepared for that answer. The thought of those two horrible people with his baby boy almost made him stagger back.

“How did she treat you? Tell me her jealousy towards me didn’t affect her treatment of you,” Loki demanded.

Harry shrugged and looked away.

“That shrew! I’ll kill her,” Loki seethed.

“No! You don’t need to kill anyone. Petunia wasn’t the best but she wasn’t completely awful,” Harry tried placating.

“I’m sure she treated you as less than her own spawn, and was needlessly cruel to you because of your magic,” Loki felt awful. His son had ended up suffering the same fate as his other children. A life of being ostracized and hated for things beyond his control.

“She always treated Dudley better, and gave me him more than me. She wasn’t the best but you don’t need to kill her,” Harry stated firmly.

Then he’d just have to pay her a visit, Loki thought to himself.

“Why were you sent to live with her? There must have been others willing to take you in even after Sirius’s arrest,” Loki wanted to know. He knew Petunia would have only agreed to take in his son if she was the last resort.

“Dumbledore said there are some sort of blood wards that were created through my mum’s sacrifice. So for protection I had to live with my mum’s last living relatives. I have to return to there every summer to renew them,” Harry explained.

Blood wards were tricky things but they could create extremely powerful protections. Loki could see where Dumbledore would have come to that conclusion. It didn’t mean that he liked it and that it made the choice a good one. He just hoped that Dumbledore had been keeping an eye on Harry’s treatment. If he hadn’t there would be Hel to pay. Harry insisted that Petunia hadn’t done anything wrong besides not treating him the same as her own son. But in Loki’s eyes that was bad enough. Protecting Harry with the blood wards would have even been a wise choice but not at the risk of leaving Harry without a happy, loving family.

Now that Harry’s remaining mortal blood was burning out of him the bloods wards would soon be useless anyway. He was coming of age. His Jotun blood was dominating his mortal blood. Soon Harry would share no familial connection to Petunia leaving the blood wards null and void. Loki explained this to Harry.

“It’d be nice, not actually being related to the Dursleys. But if I don’t go with them then where would I go? There were Death Eaters that attacked at the World Cup. I’d put whoever I was with in danger.”

“You’ll come with me this summer. I’m a god, as you keep bringing up, I can easily get rid of any who dare try to harm you,” Loki said firmly disregarding the fact that he didn’t have anywhere to go this summer.

“How can I go with you? I don’t even know if what you’ve been saying is the truth,” Harry said but Loki could see how much he wanted to say yes.

“You know it is. A part of you recognizes me. You know what I’ve told you is the truth,” Loki insisted.

“No, no I don’t,” Harry denied. “And I don’t know why you decided to play with me like this.”

“You’re my son that is why I’m here. All I want is to get to know you, and be there for you as I was unable to for the first part of your life.”

“Right, that’s very nice of you. I need to think about this. I need to find out the truth for myself,” Harry whispered.

“Of course, I understand completely. I am a stranger after all with quite the outlandish tale. You need time to adjust, to believe,” Loki said keeping a blank mask firmly in place. He couldn’t let Harry see how much his unwillingness to believe him hurt him.

“Thank you for understanding. I appreciate it,” Harry nodded and awkwardly made to leave.

“Take this with you. I can give you time. But when you’ve finally realized the truth I want you to be able to contact me and this ring will help. It will also cover you with an illusion to hide the change in your appearance,” Loki pulled a jade ring from his finger and passed it to Harry. “When you wish to speak to me again simply say my name into the ring.”

“I will,” Harry promised. “Bye”

“I’ll see you soon,” Loki replied.

Loki watched with a sinking heart as his son walked away from him and back up to the castle. The conversation could have gone a lot worse but it could have been better. Loki would have thought the proof of his appearance would have been enough to convince Harry of who he was. At least Harry hadn’t completely disregarded what he was trying to tell him. There was still hope that his son and he would be able to build a relationship. Now that he was hidden from the eyes of Heimdall and the Avengers he would have the time to do just that.

 

///

 

Two months had passed since Harry’s meeting with Loki. Harry still didn’t know what to make of the story that Loki had told him. A part of him believed him and the other part wanted to believe what Loki had told him. He wanted to believe it so badly because then it meant that Harry had a living parent in the world that actually cared about him. But it was just so… so farfetched. Loki, the God of Mischief and Lies, was his _mum_. It was crazy and unbelievable. Yet, Harry thought it might be the truth. It would explain so much.

Harry hadn’t allowed himself to think about it too much. He’d only allowed himself to look up a spell that would reveal ones genealogy. He hadn’t used it yet; he was working up the courage to. He was spending his time focusing on his schoolwork. Ron and Hermione questioned him on his changes. For the first time in his life he had outright lied to both of them. He told them that he had talked to Sirius and that he had told him it was a latent trait in the Potter family. He explained that Sirius had even taught him how to hide the changes. They were a bit skeptical but they had no reason to think that Harry would have lied about something so important, and since they didn’t see him turning blue anymore they couldn’t argue with the results. Harry just wasn’t ready to tell them about the conversation he had had with Loki in the forest. Luna didn’t ask him about it and for that he was grateful. He wasn’t ready to believe it yet let alone have to explain it to others.

It wasn’t until after a conversation with Sirius that the conversation with Loki was brought to the forefront of his mind. It turned out that the dinner Loki had told about had actually happened. His dad had told Sirius about the incident and how terrible he had felt to cause more strain between his mum and Aunt Petunia. This got him thinking. He had procrastinated long enough. It was time for him to find out the truth for himself. He needed to know one way or the other if he what Loki had been was true or not.

The night after speaking to Sirius he settled himself in a secluded classroom. He pulled out a piece of parchment and let a drop of his blood fall onto it. Harry then performed the spell on the parchment. He watched as the blood on the parchment seemed to come alive. The blood spread out across it. Words began to form. The spell was the simplest one he could find that would be the most accurate. It only revealed a person’s parents it didn’t list grandparents or other ancestors.  

Harry watched with bated breath as the names of his parents appeared on the parchment. Sure enough James Potter was one of them. Harry allowed himself a sigh of relief. He had been worried that Loki was lying to him and it would turn out that his dad wasn’t his real father. The second name that appeared sent him reeling. There on the parchment as plain as day was the name Loki Odinson. Harry grabbed up the parchment and shoved it into his bag. He quickly stalked from the classroom. He didn’t know where he was going but at the moment he just needed to move.

It was true. Everything that Loki had told him was true. His mum was really a god who had been put in a placed into a human body. A god that had tried to destroy the Earth. He said he regretted it but the fact remained that he had still tried to do it. Where had he been his whole. He said he had lost his memories. Something must have happened when Voldemort had killed his mortal body.

The question now was whether or not Harry wanted to contact Loki. Technically the man was his mum or well his other father. It was a bit confusing to think about. Of course it just had to happen to him. He was grateful to have a living parent. His mum, other father, was alive. The person who had loved Harry enough to give their life for his was alive, and he wanted to be a part of Harry’s life. But nothing could ever be simple with Harry. His other father had to be an enemy to the world, and someone who was just as feared as Voldemort.

Harry was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he never heard the footsteps moving up behind him. He only felt the spell strike him in the back moments before darkness overcame his vision.

///

Harry woke to voices. His head was pounding and he felt a bit sluggish.

“You’ve done well, Barty. Your masssster is pleassssed,” hissed a sibilant voice.

“Thank you, my lord,” replied a voice that sounded suspiciously like Moody’s. “If I may ask, my lord, what will you do with him? You can’t use his filthy creature blood after all.”

Moody was working for Voldemort? He’d told Voldemort about Harry being a Frost Giant. Dumbledore had trusted him. How could something like this escaped his and everyone else’s notice?

“Yesssss, hiss heritage changed thingsss quite a bit. But hisss blood may be filthy but Jotunsss are immortal creaturess. I have devised a ssspell to harnesss hisss power and ressstore myself to my former greatnessss,” hissed the voice that could only belong to the person from Harry’s worse nightmares.

Harry needed to get out of here and right now he only had one option: the ring that Loki had given to him. Harry cracked open his eyes to see Moody speaking to someone sitting in a high-backed cushioned chair. They were in a dirty and decrepit old house. They were completely immersed in their own conversation. Harry knew that now would be the best chance to call for Loki. He moved his hand carefully along the floor, closer to his mouth so he could whisper into the ring. The ring was almost touching his lips when a foot stomped down on his wrist and the rest of his body was bound up tightly with a quick _incarcerous_.

“Not so fast brat,” said Peter Pettigrew.

Harry glared up at the chubby, balding man. He was fairly certain his eyes were glowing with the force of his hatred for the rat-like man. The man whimpered a bit and probably wouldn’t have dared to touch Harry if he had been alone. But he wasn’t.

“What do you think you’re doing, Potter? How the hell are you even awake right now? I thought that spell would have put you out longer,” Moody growled.

“You forget, Barty, Jotunsss are very durable creaturesss,” Voldemort hissed.

“Master, Potter was trying to get to a ring on his finger,” Wormtail chirped.

“Let me sssee. Barty turn me around,” Voldemort commanded.

Moody or Barty or whoever he was moved quickly to comply. He turned the large chair with a flick of his wrist and Harry was confronted with the ugliest creature he had ever seen, even uglier than the Hagrid’s blast-ended skrewts. It looked like child. A shriveled and skeletal like child with red eyes and snake like features.

“See what you have reduced me to Harry Potter? Although, it makes sense to me now how you survived. A mortal magical spell can not kill an immortal,” Voldemort mused. But there was a hunger in his eyes as he gazed at Harry. After all Harry had what Voldemort desperately wanted. A longer life span.

“I don’t want to be immortal. But you’re the last person I would give my immortality to,” Harry said simply, staring defiantly up at Voldemort.

“You have no choice, Harry Potter. You will help me in my rise back to power. I will be unstoppable once I have drained you of your power. Now Wormtail take his ring,” Voldemort snapped he’d caught Harry trying to covertly move it closer.

Wormtail jumped to comply and yanked it from Harry’s finger. The moment he did the illusion fell. The black ropes binding Harry snapped as he grew taller and wider. His robes ripped down the seams as well. Loki had said he was a Frost Giant runt, and he hadn’t grown taller when revealing his Jotun form. Harry had assumed he would be the same. But it seemed Loki’s small stature hadn’t been passed down to Harry. In the last few months he had grown while his form had been hidden from him. He wasn’t as tall as Hagrid but he was at least seven and half feet.

Voldemort and the others hadn’t been expecting the transformation either. Harry was able to get to his feet. But he was wobbly and not used to controlling this much larger body. It was bigger, stronger, and somehow faster. It was horribly disorienting. Unfortunately he didn’t have his wand so he would have to try for a physical attack. His skin was deadly enough so he would simply try touching them. He tried to lunge and he managed to knock over Wormtail. But Barty or Moody fired off a _petrificus totalus_. It caused Harry to stiffen up a bit. He pushed through it. But the second and the third finally felled him. He went crashing to floor causing the entire house to vibrate.

“Well, Potter, I’ve never seen a Frost Giant up close. You’re certainly more monstrous than I was expecting. At least I discovered the truth about your heritage before I used your disgusting blood,” Voldemort gloated and carelessly tossed the ring into the opposite corner. “Barty begin the ritual.”

“Should I check on Wormtail,” Moody, who was looking less like Moody and more like a tall thin man, offered.

“Leave him. He’s served his purpose for now and would be useless for such a spell,” Voldemort dismissed.

Barty nodded and got to work despite the fact that his leg and eye were starting to regrow as he moved about the room. Harry had a limited view of what was happening. He was stuck on his back and could only see things out of the peripherals of his eyes. Barty would come back every so often to cast another _petrificus totalus_ on him. What Barty didn’t know was that the more the spell was cast the greater Harry’s tolerance to the spell became. Soon the spell would stop working. All Harry needed to do was be patience and hope that it would happen soon so he could escape. Once Barty was ready to begin he levitated Harry into a circle of ruins. Voldemort was placed in another circle. Harry could feel his fear rising into the pit of his stomach. He located the door and prepared to run as soon as he could move again. However, when Barty began to chant it locked Harry in place. All of his limbs felt frozen, a deep unnatural cold rose within him. It wasn’t the cold of winter but the cold feeling of deep fear and emptiness. Then it got worse. Suddenly it felt like the life was being pulled and yanked from him.

He screamed and finally he was able to struggle. Harry fought for his life. He used every scrape of his stubborn will to break free of whatever enchantment he was being put under. Distantly he could hear Barty shouting but Harry didn’t care he needed to escape. He needed to get away. Harry pulled his power up from the deep well inside himself that he didn’t even know he had and he let it out. There were bright explosions of light and everything became flashes of memory. Disjointed and confusing.

He saw himself stumbling out of an old manor house. Next he was running through a field in the dawn light. Next a robot made of red and gold armor landed in front of him. Harry wasn’t sure but he thought he pierced it with an icy spear somehow. A man in a red cape with a hammer tried to reason with him but Harry was incapable of understanding, everything was too muddled. His thoughts were rattling around inside his head with all the force of bowling balls. Everything felt like a happening too fast. The world was spinning out of control. Next came a green monster huge and strong. It roared and slammed Harry into the ground. He could do nothing against it’s strengths. Finally, the welcoming darkness rose up to meet Harry. He gladly drifted down into its embrace. Maybe everything would make sense when he woke. Maybe.


	6. Fractured

Time passed agonizingly slow. A day. A week. Then a month had gone by. Loki was an immortal, time meant nothing to him. But the past month and a half had drifted by at a snail’s pace. He waited daily with breathless anticipation for his son to call for him. Yet, Harry never did. Had Loki lost him for good? Perhaps should have waited longer or maybe he shouldn’t have revealed the truth to him so soon. It had been too much for Harry and he wasn’t able to believe Loki’s words. Not that Loki blamed him. It wasn’t as if he had the best reputation for being honest and noble.

Loki couldn’t abide by standing around do nothing. The waiting was driving him mad. He needed to do something. It was this that led him to the doorstep of Number 4 Privet Drive. Just as he had predicted the blood wards were beginning to crumble, as Harry’s Jotun blood grew stronger. Loki was able to pass through them without a hitch even though intentions weren’t exactly kind. The wards were built on his blood after all.

Loki had taken up the illusion of his old form. He planned to visit his dear sister as a wrathful ghost to see just what Petunia had done to his son. It was the middle of the day. Petunia’s husband and son were gone. Now would be the perfect time to confront her. Loki knocked and waited. He didn’t have to wait long as the door was opened to reveal a familiar blonde woman. Petunia could have been pretty but it seemed the years had been as unkind to her as they had been to Severus. She seemed thinner in turn making her face thinner and more horse-like. Wrinkles and stress lines marred her skin creating a map of an unhappy life.

Petunia stared at Loki, now Lily, with shocked wide eyes. Her mouth dropped open and she floundered for a response.

“How? No, you aren’t Lily! This is some nasty trick made up by those freaks!” she cried.

“I assure you Tuney, dear that it is really me. Hmm how shall I prove it?” Loki tapped his, well her now, chin thoughtfully. “Oh yes, when we were children, before you hated me for my magic, we used to play in our mother’s closet. We would put on her clothes and wear her jewelry. She had this one nice pearl necklace that dad had saved to buy her. We weren’t supposed to play with it but we always did anyway. You were taking a turn with it when the chain broke. You were so worried that mummy would be angry with you. I didn’t want you to get in trouble. I wished really hard that the necklace wasn’t broken, and somehow it wasn’t anymore. It was the first time I ever did magic, and the last time you liked my magic. We never told anyone else about it. Only you and I could ever know about that Tuney.”

“How could you…Lily? Is it really you?” Petunia gasped. She looked torn between wonder and fear.

“Yes.”

“How?”

“Let me in and we can speak more inside,” Loki offered.

“Of course, you’re right,” Petunia’s eyes darted about the neighborhood. She had always worried so much about what other people thought of her. Frankly, Loki found it an exhausting pastime.

The two of them settled in her living room. Petunia’s eyes never leaving Loki for a moment. Loki allowed his own eyes to wander about the room, taking in the home where his son had grown up. There wasn’t much indicating that this was where Harry had spent his childhood. There were no pictures of Harry on the wall or in the family portraits. There were plenty of Petunia’s vile spawn and her walrus husband but none of Loki’s own child. Loki yearned to see what Harry looked like as a young boy but there was not a trace to be seen.

“So Petunia how have you been?” Loki asked with a tight smile.

“Things have been going wonderfully. Vernon got a promotion. Dudley is on the boxing team at a good school. I won a—”

“And what about Harry? You took him didn’t you after my accident?” Loki demanded.

Petunia shifted uncomfortably and Loki instantly recognized guilt.

“He’s away at that school of his, the one you went to and wanted him to attend. He loves it there, and only stays here in the summers. He’s been fine,” Petunia replied stiffly.

“I see,” Loki replied making sure to inject the skepticism he felt into his voice.

“What right do you have to judge me!? I raised your son because you got yourself blown up by some maniac! How are you even here!? You’re dead!” she shrieked.

“I have been given the chance to come back and check on my son’s wellbeing. To ensure that he has been taken care of, and that my sacrificing my life for his was not in vane. That’s all that you need to know. He has been taken care of, hasn’t he Petunia?” Loki questioned.

“Of course,” Petunia’s eyes didn’t quite meet his own. Loki who had intimate knowledge of lies and liars knew in an instant that she was lying.

“Why doesn’t it feel that you’re telling me the truth, Tuney?” Loki leaned closer staring at her with the full force of his emerald gaze, and adding a touch of his power to it.

“I never wanted to take him. I didn’t want to expose my son to your sort of unnaturalness. But the old man said we had to take him that it would give us protection from your types that were still out there and would come after us if we didn’t have that protection,” Petunia defended.

“What have you done, Petunia?” Loki whispered sadly.

“I protected my family,” Petunia said proudly.

“And Harry is not a part of your family? Did he not deserve the same love and affection as your own child? I would have loved your son and treated him as my own if our positions had been reversed. Can you say that you did the same?” Loki questioned.

A flash of guilt flashed across her face before being replaced by stony defiance. “I don’t have to explain myself to you. We tried to treat him normally, to make him normal, but from the very beginning he was always doing something unnatural. So we gave him chores to distract him from his unnatural powers, and kept all discussions of magic out of the house. He was punished if he used his freakishness.”

“Freakishness? Oh Petunia, I’m so disappointed in you. How did you become so hateful?” A part of Loki recognized that he was being hypocritical. He understood how hate and jealousy could fester until it simply just boiled over into impotent rage. But even in his rage he would have never taken his feelings out on Thor’s child.

“I just realized how wrong you were, how abnormal,” Petunia sneered.

Loki peered into her mind and saw all that Harry had suffered at her and her husband’s hands. The cupboard, the chores, the lack of love and affection. Loki saw it all and he was angry but mostly he was saddened. Saddened by the years Harry had suffered alone without love and saddened by how Petunia had let her jealousy twist her. Loki determined he couldn’t let the same thing happen to him.

“You took out your own hate and bitterness on Harry. I can’t abide by that Petunia. You may be my sister but Harry is my son. I hope your cruelty was worth it for I will see that you pay for what you have done. Goodbye Petunia,” Loki stood and left.

Petunia tried to call him back. Her voice full of panic and fear. Loki ignored her pleading; it wouldn’t save her from his wrath. As he passed through the entrance of the house he left behind a curse. A curse of misfortune and bad luck. The spell was long lasting and would follow the Dursleys everywhere they went until they had suffered in equal measure to his son. Loki wanted to utterly destroy them for their treatment of Harry but a very small part of him still cared about Petunia. The bad luck would be a fitting punishment for a person that cared about the material things and the thoughts of others.

It was a relief for Loki to have gotten revenge against Petunia, and to have some justice for his son. Of course his next targets would be the ones who had placed Harry with the Dursleys without bothering to check on him. They were the ones who were truly responsible. Surely they had to have known or at the very they were guilty by the negligence. However, before he could seek out those that had wronged his son the security alarm he had placed on the ring went off. The security alarm would go off if someone forcibly removed the ring from Harry. Loki felt anger swim through him. He would teleport to the ring’s location and track down Harry by following his magical trail. It wouldn’t be too hard because his magical signature was very similar to Loki’s own. Whoever had harmed his son would have Loki to pay.

///

The Avengers had been worn ragged. Ever since Loki’s little prison break stunt a couple of months ago they had been running around trying to recapture all the escaped prisoners. They still hadn’t found them all but they deserved a break every so often. They needed to regroup and rest. Unfortunately they couldn’t go back to their respective homes or Avengers Tower. They needed to be ready for the next mission so for the moment their home away from home was SHIELD’s helicarrier.

“Fury just called. Said there was some massive energy disturbance in the UK, some place called Little Hangleton. Said the signature was very similar to Loki’s, too similar for it to be anyone else,” Clint, codename Hawkeye, announced as he walked into the small living room in the private quarters reserved for the Avengers.

The room was where most of the Avengers went to relax on their days off to hang out and spend time together. At the moment only Thor, Tony, and Bruce happened to be inside.

“So Reindeer Games has finally surfaced,” Tony said with a grin of anticipation.

“It could be a trap. My brother has seemed fond of them as of late, and after so long in hiding to slip up now can not be a mistake,” Thor added.

“That’s why we’re going in with full fire power,” Clint replied with a grin.

“Am I suiting up?” Bruce asked.

“We’ll wait and see what we’re dealing with first, big guy,” Tony said slapping him on the back.

“We’ve already changed course. Nat’s firing up the jet. We can be there in less than half an hour. The Cap is already on the launch pad so as soon as the three of you are ready we’ll head out,” Clint departed eager to get some payback against the whack job that had messed with his mind.

The others quickly gathered themselves and met their teammates in the jet. They set up to the location that Loki’s signal was emanating from. They were all eager to get their hands on Loki once more. However, Thor was right, it was a little suspicious that Loki would suddenly make an appearance now after months of nothing. Not even the all seeing Heimdall had been able to get a lock on Loki’s location. SHIELD, Tony, and Bruce had created devices that were specifically targeted to scan for Loki’s unique signature. They weren’t sure how well the tracking devices would work but it seemed all of their hard work had finally paid off. They’d finally found their favorite wayward nemesis. Now they just needed to collect him.

They finally caught sight of him in a field just outside of the small town. Or least they were pretty sure it was him considering the form stumbling beneath the jet was a deep blue.

“What? Did he turn into a smurf?” Tony asked. He and Thor were flying along beside the jet but both had comms to keep in touch with those who weren’t capable of flight

“It is his Frost Giant form. I have never seen him in it before,” Thor frowned.

“Either way, we need to take him in,” Natasha said with finality.

“Be wary of his skin. It can cause deadly frostbite,” Thor informed as they prepared to attack.

“Copy that,” Tony said before turning his attention back on Loki.

Tony dove at Loki and fired at him. Loki didn’t seem like himself. Something was wrong for he was barely able to dodge the attack Tony sent towards him. He was weaving on his feet and didn’t seem to be fully in control of himself. Thor knew he needed to take his brother in. Loki needed help. However, when he threw an ice shard at Tony the others became enraged, especially Bruce. Thor tried to reason with Loki but nothing seemed to get through to him, and Loki backhanded him sending him sprawling several yards away. Bruce had completed his transformation into the Hulk by that time and he wasted no time in pounding Loki into the ground.

Tony was quickly checked over. His suit had taken the brunt of the attack but he had been wounded, and they needed to get him medical attention. While the others rushed Tony into the jet, Thor looked down at Loki’s unconscious form. He was wearing tattered black robes with some sort of insignia. Thor knew that Loki hated his Jotun form he couldn’t imagine why his brother would have willing gone out in this form. None of it made sense.

“Well, that was ridiculously easy,” Clint mentioned.

“Yes, something is wrong,” Thor agreed.

“Well, let’s just figure a way to get him back into the jet without him freezing us all. We need to get Stark out of here,” Clint glanced around looking for an idea.

“I will wrap him in my cape. It was woven by Asgardian seamstresses and will be strong enough for protection. I will carry him,” Thor offered removing his cape.

His brother was slightly taller as a Jotun than he had been expecting. Loki still wasn’t as large as a normal Frost Giant but he was taller than Thor in this form. Thor sighed and picked him up. He carried Loki onto the jet. The trip back to the SHIELD helicarrier was one made in silence. They were all weary and they were all uneasy at just how simple it had been to take Loki in. What was the trickster planning for them now?

As soon as they got back to the base SHIELD agents came to lock Loki in the secure cell designed specifically for Loki. Thor had explained a little bit about the cells used on Asgard and Tony and Bruce had done their best to try and replicate them. Hopefully it would be able to Loki this time around. They debriefed Fury on their capture of Loki. He agreed with them that something wasn’t quite right about this. They would all be on guard to the slightest movements. Tony was also given a clean bill of health so he was able to join their meeting on Loki’s capture. He would have to where his arm in a sling for a week or so but he would make a full recovery.

“So what’s our plan?” Tony asked. “We can’t just hold him here.”

“I will take Loki back to Asgard,” Thor replied.

“Yeah, because that worked so well last time,” Tony huffed.

“Loki has good reason for coming back to Midgard,” Thor defended.

“And what would those reasons be?” Fury demanded.

Thor had not yet shared with his friends about Loki’s child. It was a very private matter. But perhaps it would give the Avengers some sympathy towards Loki.

“Loki spent time on Midgard before. He had a child, and that child was murdered. My father took his memories of the child away from him to spare him the pain. He regained his memories after the events in New York. I believe he came back to Midgard to seek revenge on those that killed his son,” Thor explained.

The silence in the room stretched for several long minutes as they all processed the fact that Loki had a son. A son that had been murdered. Even as much as they all hated Loki they couldn’t help but feel a little bad for him. No one deserved to lose a child like that.

“Um, wow. That’s a lot to take in. Loki was a daddy,” Tony was the first to break the silence.

“Actually, Loki was his mother,” Thor corrected.

Everyone stared, some mouths dropped, and no one knew quite what to say. Not even the hardened SHIELD agents.

“It’s a rather long story,” Thor murmured.

“His mother? How is that possible?” Steve frowned looking around to make sure everyone else felt as confused as he did and wasn’t just something he’d missed while he was frozen.

“Wait, are you saying all of those stories about Loki are true? Did he really give birth to an eight legged horse?” Tony gasped a giggle escaping him.

“Yes, Sleipnir is his name. He is my father’s stead. All of Loki’s children tended to be… monstrous. I believe that the last child was fairly normal. He was the child of a mortal magic user.”

“Mortal magic user?” Bruce asked. “There are humans that can use magic out there?”

“They call themselves wizards. There’s an entire hidden society of them,” Fury said simply.

“Wizards… Why am not surprised?” Steve sighed.

“We’ll discuss the wizarding world later. Loki’s waking up,” Fury barked. “Natasha why don’t you go welcome him to his new accommodations.”

Natasha nodded and stood up. The rest of them looked to the monitor to see just how this interaction would go.

///

Harry woke slowly. His entire body was throbbing in pain. When he opened his eyes the bright neon lights made him close them quickly again. He groaned and rolled over. The last thing he remembered was barely escaping the ritual Voldemort had been trying to force on him. Anything after leaving the old house was blank. He needed to figure out just where he was.

Harry sat up slowly. He was in a small room or more like a cell. The walls around him were made of glass. The floor and ceiling were made of metal. Beyond the glass he could see the metal walls of what looked like the inside of a ship. A woman stood outside one of the glass walls just staring at him. She had short dark red hair and piercing eyes.

“Where am I?” Harry asked having to clear his throat because his voice was so raspy.

“You’re back on the SHIELD helicarrier. I think you’ll notice that we’ve upgraded your room. We’re prepared for you this time, Loki. You aren’t going anywhere before you’ve paid for your crimes,” she replied.

“Loki?” Harry frowned. “I’m not Loki.”

“Really? So you just happen to be a Frost Giant like Loki and our scanners just happened to pick up your signal, which is identical to Loki’s. But you’re not Loki,” she said doubtfully.

“No,” Harry replied firmly.

This was a situation he had no idea how to deal with. He’d been captured by people who thought he was Loki. Loki had destroyed New York City it was only logical that there would be people out to get him. It was just Harry’s luck that they picked up him instead. They also knew Loki was a Frost Giant so they obviously knew quite a bit about the more mystical parts of the world.

“You’re insisting on this story?” she frowned her eyes locked on him.

“Yes, my name is Harry. I’m not Loki. I swear,” Harry pleaded.

“But you know Loki,” she stated.

“I do,” Harry admitted. “But only a little. I just met him…”

“Really? But you’re a Frost Giant that can’t be a coincidence,” her eyes swept over his blue frame in an assessing manner.

“This is going to sound crazy,” Harry sighed. He might as well tell her the truth. They already knew he was Jotun. It was only a matter of time before they put two and two together.

“Trust me I’ve seen a lot of crazy things in my life. I think I can handle whatever you have to say,” she said blank faced.

It was then that Harry recognized her. She was the Black Widow, one of the Avengers who had helped to stop Loki. Harry couldn’t believe he’d been picked up by the Avengers. At least they were supposed to be the good guys hopefully they would listen to Harry’s story before deciding him to just condemn him for Loki’s crimes.

“Loki’s my mum,” Harry said trying to be as blank faced as the Black Widow.

A hint of surprise flashed across her otherwise expressionless face. “Say that again.”

“Loki is my mother,” Harry repeated.

“I think the consensus was that you were dead,” she said.

“Well, I’m not,” Harry waved his hand indicating his obviously alive self.

“And Loki knows about this? That you’re alive?”

“He does,” Harry agreed.

“And he hasn’t done anything about it? He hasn’t tried to recruit you or told you his plans?” the Black Widow demanded.

“No, he just told me he was my mum. I didn’t exactly believe him but considering the fact that I was turning blue at the time I didn’t have a lot of other options. I took a test and it proved that Loki is my biological mother,” Harry admitted.

“This certainly changes things,” she said.

“Does that mean you’re going to let me out of here?” Harry asked hopefully. He really needed to get back to Hogwarts. They were probably panicking over what had happened to him. To be honest he was panicking. Voldemort had kidnapped him last night to try and drain the life from him. How much had the spell worked before Harry had been able to escape? Had Voldemort managed to regain his body? These were questions that couldn’t be answered while he was locked up in here.

“I’ll speak to my superiors but as long as you promised to cooperate I don’t see why we can’t get you out of here,” she said.

“I promise. I wouldn’t hurt anyone. I may look… monstrous,” Harry whispered remembering Voldemort’s words from the night before. “But I’m not dangerous.”

“How old are you Harry?” she asked.

“Fourteen,” Harry replied.

There was the minuteness softening of her expression. “I’ll be right back, Harry.”

“Wait, what’s your name?” Harry asked.

“Natasha,” she answered before exiting.

Harry paced the confines of his cell. He tried willing himself back to his human self but all he managed was to make his hands a little paler. How was Loki able to shift shapes so easily? Harry wished he had asked the man to teach him instead of just relying on the ring. At the time, however, he had been too confused over the information that Loki was giving him to think of much else. He just hoped that the Avengers believed him. If not he better start thinking up an escape plan. Although, how he was going to escape from the Avengers was anyone’s guess. He’d gotten himself out of some pretty bad situations in the past. But he hardly knew anything about them. He just knew that they had stopped an entire alien invasion and Loki. How was he supposed to beat that?

“Harry?” questioned a deep voice.

Harry looked up to see a very large, muscular blonde man standing in front of his cell. He had stormy blue eyes that regarded him with a sort of awe. He wore blue and silver armor. A hammer hung from his belt, and Harry was fairly certain he was looking at Thor, the God of Thunder himself.

“Yes,” Harry agreed.

“I am Thor, your uncle. It is a wonderful surprise to discover that you are alive, nephew,” Thor moved to the panel by the cell door.

“Thor! Don’t you dare open that door. We haven’t agreed about anything yet,” commanded a tall man wearing black leather with a black eye-patch storming into the room.

“Yeah, I don’t know if it’s such a good idea releasing Loki’s spawn onto the helicarrier his old man blew up,” agreed the man with short blonde hair wearing a black and purple outfit. Harry recognized him as Hawkeye. Natasha as well as the three remaining Avengers had followed him through the door.

“He is just a boy. He has done nothing wrong and does not deserve to be locked up,” Thor argued.

“Not dangerous? He’s the one that injured Stark,” the man with the eye patch shot back.

“What? I didn’t hurt anyone,” Harry cried his eyes flicking to Tony Stark. His arm was in a sling and his shoulder was wrapped up. Harry couldn’t have possibly done that, right?

“You threw a chunk of ice at me,” Tony deadpanned.

“I don’t… I don’t remember doing it,” Harry replied.

“What do you remember?” asked a tall, muscular man with short blonde hair. Harry recognized him from muggle history. It was Steve Rogers, Captain America. His voice was stern but oddly gentle at the same time.

“I was kidnapped, and I escaped. The next thing I remember is waking up here,” Harry replied.

“Kidnapped? By who and why?” One-eye demanded.

“It’s not really something I can share,” Harry hedged. They may have been heroes who fought aliens but it still didn’t mean that they knew about the wizarding world. Harry wasn’t about to be the one to out them either.

“It is something you can share or else you just stay in there for all I care,” One-eye growled.

“I can’t tell you. I’d be breaking the Statue of Security,” Harry admitted. He was between a rock and a hard place here. He didn’t know anything about these people for all he knew they could keep him here indefinitely. Who was to say that wizards would even be able to find him while he was locked up here. If his only chance of getting out of here was telling them the truth shouldn’t he do it?

“Statue of Security. No need to worry about that. We know all about the wizarding world,” One-eye replied flatly.

“You do?” Harry gaped. Did the wizarding world know about this? Harry thought the only muggles who were allowed in on the secrets were authority figures.

“Yes, now out with it. The whole story or you can forget about being let out of there,” One-eye snapped obviously used to having people obeying his orders.

“I was taken by a Dark wizard named Voldemort. He wanted to steal my immortality to restore himself. I managed to escape before he could complete it,” Harry admitted

“Ritual? Voldemort? Oh please don’t tell me you’re Harry Potter,” the eye patch man sighed in exasperation.

“I’m Harry Potter,” he replied simply.

“Of course you are,” One-eye said.

“Maybe you would like to share with the rest of us, Fury. Just who is Harry Potter?” Tony demanded.

“A very famous wizard,” Natasha answered.

“So you’re a wizard too?” Tony asked.

“My dad was wizard. And apparently my mum, Lily Potter, was really Loki. Voldemort attacked my parents on Halloween night, and it was believed that both of them had been murdered. He tried to kill me too but he wasn’t able to,” Harry whispered unable to believe he was actually admitting to it, accepting it.

“Yes, that fits with the information that my father told me,” Thor agreed.

“Great, can I get out of here now?” Harry asked.

Thor looked expectantly at One-eye now known as Fury. It was a surprisingly accurate name.

“If you take one foot out of line I will personally see to it that you are thrown back in here with no chance of parole,” Fury glared.

“I will watch him,” Thor volunteered.

“I’m going to regret this,” Fury sighed but he reached over to hit the button to open up the door.

Harry tentatively took a few steps out. He hated seeing the weary looks on the faces of those around him. It made him wonder what the wizarding world’s reaction would be seeing the real him.

“Are you hungry nephew?” Thor asked.

“A little bit,” Harry said, he would do anything to end this awkward silence.

“Then let us get you some nourishment,” Thor cheered.

“And maybe some clothes,” offered a man with dark slightly graying curls. He wore glasses and a purple shirt.

“Yeah, that would be nice,” Harry agreed looking down at his ruined school robes. There were holes and tears galore in them.

“I know what it feels like to rip out of your clothes. Bruce Banner,” the man smiled.

“Harry Potter,” Harry smiled back.

“I’m the one that sort of slammed you into the ground. Or well my other half did. I’m the Hulk.”

“You did what?” Harry frowned.

“Good, you don’t remember. It makes me feel a little better about beating up a kid,” Bruce rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Teenager,” Harry corrected.

“Teenager,” Bruce agreed with a smile.

Harry was given a black jump suit that surprisingly fit him. Although, he was a little uncomfortable with the formfitting outfit. It wasn’t something that he would normally wear, ever. He felt uncomfortable in it, and it added to the layer of discomfort he felt as the Avengers all stared at him as he ate as if he was a vicious beast that would attack at the slightest provocation.

“So Harry you didn’t always look like this?” Tony asked conversationally.

“No, this is a fairly recent development,” Harry replied looking down at his blue hands. The one that sat on the table was beginning to cause frost to form across the top. He tried to stop it but with his nerves it was impossible to reign in his powers.

“You want to cut that out before you freeze the whole ship?” Fury snapped.

Harry removed his hand from the table, and flushed feeling very self-conscious. He wondered exactly what color he turned when he blushed.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“You cannot control it?” Thor frowned.

“Like I said, it’s a fairly recent development. The ice was never like this, though. I never just started freezing things,” Harry sighed. Perhaps it was because he’d been in his human form for so long that and his fear was sending him out of control.

“So Harry let’s talk about what your plans are,” Fury said.

“My plans? I just don’t want to be blue anymore so that I can go back to school,” Harry frowned.

“You’re the son of one of the world’s most notorious villains. You think you can just go back to school?” Fury demanded.

“Yes…” Harry replied.

“We can’t have you just running around without keeping tabs on you. You’re half- Frost Giant who knows what trouble you could get into,” Fury growled.

“I haven’t done anything to hurt anyone for the past fourteen years. I think I can contain my murderous urges,” Harry said glaring. He’d had enough of people always thinking the worst of him. His fists clenched to hold back the ice-cold power swirling up inside him.

“I don’t think Fury means it like that,” Bruce soothed. “I think he’s more worried about others coming after you.”

“Why would they come after me?” Harry questioned.

“Asgard is a hot commodity right now. And some of our more unsavory rivals would kill at the chance to take you apart,” Fury stated harshly.

Great just what he needed more people coming after him. As if Voldemort wasn’t enough.

“So what are you suggesting?” Harry asked.

Fury smirked. “An agreement that benefits both of us. We protect you and you provide us with certain information,” Fury responded.

“What kind of information?” Harry asked.

“Loki trusts you. You’re his son after all,” Fury began.

“You cannot be proposing that my nephew spy on Loki,” Thor protested.

“I’m suggesting exactly that. We’ve got nothing on him. We have no idea what his plans are and no way to track him. This is our only chance of ever finding out,” Fury argued.

“I’m not spying on my… on Loki for you,” Harry said in disgust.

Loki may have been dangerous but he was still Harry’s… other father. Never having family meant that Harry was much more reluctant to turn against him. Loki wanted a relationship with him, and Harry didn’t want to ruin that by conspiring with his enemies. It didn’t necessarily mean that Harry wanted to join him either.

“I strongly urge you to think about it. Until then you’ll stay with Thor in his wing of the helicarrier. And remember one foot out of line and you’re going back in the cell,” his piece said Fury swept from the room.

The Avengers all stuck around asking Harry questions about his school, and the magical world. Natasha, and Hawkeye also known as Clint were already aware of magic so with their help he was able to fill them all in. The Avengers seemed to relax more in his presence the more they talked. Harry likewise felt himself relax the more he got to know the Avengers, and he realized that they weren’t about to attack him. He could only hope that they would find a way for him to return to Hogwarts soon or at the very least contact them. He could only imagine how terrified they all must be at his sudden disappearance. Besides he wanted to know if Voldemort had made an appearance. If whatever ritual he had performed on Harry worked, and he was now restored. If he was then Harry was going to have another huge problem on top of the ones he already had.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


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